Head weather analyst Philip Duncan has your forecast for the long weekend ahead.

Weather analyst Philip Duncan is here with his mid-week weather update.

Weather analyst Philip Duncan talks about a cooler week with a burst of wintry weather around Thursday and Friday

A settled Friday will kick off this final weekend of Autumn. The big ridge of high pressure will continue to keep things pretty pleasant and rather dry. Except plenty of sunshine once the early morning fog burns off. The only areas that won’t see a dry day are the West Coast, Otago and inland Southland. Showers are possible during the morning for those areas and then the chance for showers will continue into the afternoon and evening about the West coast.

WeatherWatch.co.nz head weather analyst Philip Duncan says a large high,a weak southerly change and a large low from the Tasman Sea is coming over the next weeek which will bring cooler & calmer conditions for most parts of the country.

WeatherWatch.co.nz head weather analyst Philip Duncan says the large Tasmanian low continues to churn offshore this evening. Showers are making their way onshore about Taranaki where a Heavy Rain Warning remains in place through tomorrow afternoon. The warning also includes Waitomo, but most of the heavy falls are expected around Taranaki. The majority of rain tonight should be in these areas. However, showers are likely to dot much of the remainder of the southern half of the North Island. The threat for small tornadoes about Taranaki still exists as well.

The endless rain that is plaguing the North Island has one nice side effect - people are actually relaxing.