Rug up... the icy blast is here to stay for the week

Mt Tarawera

Stock up on the firewood and turn up those heaters as overnight temperatures are expected to continue to plummet throughout the week.

Last night was set to drop to 1C with the weekend lows looking to be even colder at -1C.

MetService meteorologist Elke Louw said Rotorua recently experienced its coldest day of the year last Saturday at -2C. The lowest temperature on record between 1992-2003 was -4C. She said the average July low was 3.8C with an average maximum of 11C.

"[There's been] a cold southerly outbreak, I see you have lots of clear skies during the day and colder nights over the last few days. So that is to continue - the fine conditions but cold frosty starts in the morning."

Temperatures have reached freezing point in some areas of the region with a blanket of snow reported on the Mamaku ranges and on Mt Tarawera.

Helipro pilot Edine ten Bokkel Huinink said clients from Tahiti received an extra bonus while visiting Mt Tarawera summit this week.

"We landed on Tarawera and some of the shadow spots still had snow on the ground," she said.

"It's pretty windy up there, it's the straight southerly winds from Antarctica. The last time we saw snow up there was probably three years ago and this winter it's been two or three times.

"The clients loved it, they were touching it, taking photos with it."

Today's temperatures is expected to peak to 12C with an overnight low of 1C.

Rotorua weatherman Brian Holden said Rotorua had four frosts in the past week, and seven in July, which was normal. The city experienced warmer weather when rain fell last week though. Rotorua has had 65mm of rainfall this month, on par for July, he added.