Weather: Enjoy the sunshine while you can

Last week's storms were forgotten as people flocked to Mt Maunganui beach on a sunny spring Sunday. Photo / Alan Gibson.

Make the most of the long, warm and sunny days this week because it will not last, weather forecasters say.

There will be sunshine and warm temperatures in the North and South Islands today - and for the next few days - as a large high covers the country.

But sunny weather will not last into the weekend, forecasters say.

WeatherWatch head analyst Philip Duncan said people should make the most of the fine days, expected until Wednesday or Thursday, as the weekend will be wet and windy.

Daytime temperature highs will range from around 17C to the early 20s in most areas.

In Auckland, today's maximum temperature is forecast for 18C and tomorrow that will stand at 19C.

Mr Duncan said daylight savings had brought an added bonus for many people around the country, who were taking advantage of the longer days to spend more time out in the sun.

"Nature has a way of balancing things out and we all know that after a long period of settled weather, there will be some kind of stormy weather at the end of it," he said.

Towards the end of the week the high will move off the South Island and peel itself off the rest of the country, bringing showers and winds.

WeatherWatch said it was likely that cloudy weather would move into the western part of the country on Friday, bringing showers on Saturday, and then carry on towards the east coast. Showers and winds could be expected right up until at least next Tuesday, Mr Duncan said.

"It'll affect everyone at one point."

Asked if the people who were sick of bad weather could expect more sunshine throughout this month, Mr Duncan had a mixed response.

"October is quite often a very stormy month [because] it's right in the middle of spring.

"It's like, the battle of the seasons.

"I think the first half of October will be fairly okay and beyond that, we don't really know, but there'll most probably be a storm at some point," Mr Duncan said.