Weather: Fire up the barbie

Sunny weather at Mission Bay. Photo / Herald on Sunday / Doug Sherring

It's a great day across most of the country for firing up the barbie or getting a tan on.

After high winds and heavy rain belted much of the country in recent days, WeatherWatch said fine weather was in store for most regions.

The forecasters said a high pressure system was finally moving in after a windy fortnight.

Tauranga was the only large town seeing mostly cloudy skies this morning. But as the day progressed, sun would increase in the Bay of Plenty, WeatherWatch said.

"In Auckland, cloudy skies recently have finally given way to a spectacular spring day with mostly sunny conditions."

A few patches of cloud and light winds were expected in Canterbury and Otago.

The East Cape, Gisborne, and the northeastern tip of the Coromandel Peninsula could experience some light rain today.

"With that disturbance in the north east it is possible a few isolated showers may pop up here and there across northern areas," WeatherWatch said.

Wellington would be mostly sunny today.

The forecast for next week sees high pressure dominating, so most areas would have a much drier, calmer, and warmer week in store, just in time for the new school term.