Early arrival for winter

Heavy snow played havoc with roads and flights in other parts of the country yesterday. File photo.

Winter has put on a preview show this weekend, with Tauranga dipping to three degrees Celsius last night, and a low of 4C expected again tonight.

Freezing cold temperatures continue around the country, the day after heavy snow trapped motorists on the Desert Road and left flights unable to take off or land in Queenstown.

Waiouru, in the North Island's Central Plateau, was the coldest township overnight, dropping to -6.5C, followed by Arthurs Pass on -4.9C, says MetService meteorologist Tom Adams.

One South Island ski field got down to -10C, with further snow possible in some mountain areas on Sunday, although a repeat of Sunday's dump is unlikely.

'There could still be the odd [snow] shower in Southland and the east [but] the snow's not going to be falling as low as it did yesterday, and there's not very much of it anyway," says Tom.

The Desert Road remains closed on Sunday morning, as well as State Highway 87 in Otago between Sutton and Outram, due to Saturday's snow.

The main centres were spared the freezing temperatures, with Auckland starting the day on 8.8C, Wellington on 8C and Christchurch on 5.1C, but Taupo dropped to -2.3C, colder than Invercargill, which got down to 0.9C.

Unlike Saturday, which brought showers to much of the country, as well as snow to Southland, Otago and the Central Plateau, Sunday was set to be a mostly fine day.

Morning showers around Banks Peninsula, Mahia Peninsula and Wairarapa should clear later in the day, but showers will stick around all day in the far south.

The chill is expected to continue into Monday, with clear skies and low winds on Sunday night set to bring frosts as far north as Northland.

Motorists are urged to drive with care on their way into work on Monday, in case of frost on the roads.

- Stuff

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