Wet weekend the last for a while

Patchy weather this weekend will be the last in a while with a high set to hit the country next week.

"We have one more weather system to contend with this weekend and then we actually get to enjoy some good weather," said Metservice meteorologist Daniel Corbett.

"We're saying goodbye to the weather of yesterday, which brought all of the storms and southern parts of New Zealand."

While the North Island will likely enjoy "barbecue weather" on Saturday, other parts of the country won't be so lucky, he said.

Rain is forecast for parts of the South Island, with a severe weather watch issued for Westland, Southland and Otago.

A front is expected to move north over the lower South Island early on Saturday, bringing brief periods of heavy rain to Fiordland and Westland south of Haast, Metservice forecasters say.

The short-term warning predicts rainfall could reach 70mm in 12 hours.

Thirty to 40mm of heavy rain is also expected for the Otago headwaters, 10km east of the Main Divide.

This front will head north on Sunday, but will "lose its oomph" by the time it arrives, bringing intermittent showers, Corbett said.

Metservice warns people in these areas need to keep an eye on the forecasts in case they are upgraded to a full warning.

But wet weather will give way to a high on Monday.

"There is a fairly nice area of high pressure which has been sitting in the Tasman Sea. This one ... is coming our way which is good news," said Corbett.

"[It's] a much more quiet and settled spell going into early next week compared to... let's just say it's been one after another of pretty active weather systems."

Northland is already experiencing dry weather and high temperatures with fire restrictions in place in and around Whangarei.

- nzherald.co.nz