Two weather systems tackle each end of the country as rain hits the Bay of Plenty today.

The first, a low from the north Tasman Sea, will track over Northland and the Coromandel Peninsula on today bringing rain and strong winds to the northern half of the North Island.

A cold and rainy weekend is in store for most of the North Island.

A weather warning is in place for the Bay of Plenty as the weather systems track down the country.

On Sunday, a polar blast will make its presence felt over the South Island, bringing snow to low levels.

However, the story is better for the middle of the country.

'Central areas will enjoy some sunshine in between these two systems,” says MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey. Rain is expected to spread as far south as Mount Ruapehu during Saturday morning with heavy falls in Northland, Coromandel, and possibly Auckland.

The rain should also become heavy in Gisborne later in the day, before the low moves away to the east of New Zealand overnight Saturday.

'Although there are heavy rain warnings with a risk of downpours for some of these northern areas, the lower North Island and upper South Island should see fine weather on Saturday due to a weak ridge of high pressure,” says Stephen.

During Sunday, very cold polar air will spread north over the South Island and reach the lower North Island during the evening.

Snow is likely to lower to near sea level in Southland and Otago by Sunday evening, possibly reaching warning amounts above 200 metres.

'This is likely to make driving conditions hazardous and will be disruptive to travel, possibly including Dunedin residents trying to get to work on Monday morning,” adds Stephen.

On Monday, the cold air spreads over the remainder of the North Island, bringing snow to the higher roads.

The snow level should gradually rise over the South Island but temperatures will probably remain in single digits for most places.

'This will be the coldest outbreak New Zealand has experienced so far this year,” says Stephen.

Conditions should begin to improve on Tuesday as higher pressures moves in from the west.