Your weather: Cloud and drizzle clearing for a clear, warm weekend

Fine weather later in the weekend could provide an opportunity to hit the beach. Photo / Dean Purcell

Many North Islanders will be waking up to a rather grey, drizzly start to their weekend - with a small temperature drop providing relief from the recent heatwave.

MetService meteorologist Larissa Marintchenko said a front which cleared the South Island yesterday, would be moving over the North Island today.

"There may be showers during the day, but these will clear most of the island by the end of today.

"Northland will be left with some cloudy periods and showers but the rest of the island will be pretty much fine from midday."

Aucklanders could expect a high of 26C, dropping to 17C overnight - and a similar deal tomorrow.

Further north, Kerikeri was in for a similarly warm day. Both spots would likely have some showers.

This stint of fine weather was expected to stick around for Sunday and into the new week, Marintchenko said.

While the weekend was expected to bring a temperature drop for many areas around the country, the heat is likely to return heading into the new week.

A much cooler morning than yesterday for many! Areas of #Christchurch got down to 4.2C overnight whilst #Dunedin was around 20C cooler! The cold front that brought the temp change is now moving through Hawke's Bay bringing some 🌧. Forecasts @ https://t.co/Yjbq0jxdqz ^JM pic.twitter.com/EH3nREvSPJ

— MetService (@MetService) February 1, 2019

Weather around the South Island would be "pretty much fine", becoming hotter as the weekend progressed.

"The front cleared yesterday and overnight tonight, and the South Island will pretty much be fine," Marintchenko said.

Temperatures had been cooler overnight down south, she said, with areas of Christchurch dropping down to around 5C.

But with the front having passed over the area, the heat could return later in the weekend.

"In the eastern parts like Marlborough and Canterbury, it's going to be mid-to-high 20's again."

Temperatures in Blenheim would near 30C tomorrow, while Christchurch was a little cooler, sitting around 25C.

Hot stuff! 🔥 The #heatwave sizzler ☀️ this week broke temperature records 🌡️ across #Aotearoa. We've crunched the numbers and compiled some of the all-time records for 28-31 Jan: https://t.co/c4uNMwuSSb @niwaweather pic.twitter.com/Qk0YuPWdar

— NIWA (@niwa_nz) February 1, 2019