The ridge of high pressure that saw a fine end to the school holidays will remain in charge for most of this week, with fine weather predicted for Tauranga right through until the weekend.

The forecast for this week is for daily highs of around the 19 degrees.

The MetService is forecasting a fine working week for Tauranga.

Things are set to change on Saturday, however, with the MetService forecasting rain.

'The high remains firmly in place over the North Island until the middle of the week, providing more sunny and warm afternoons for many,” says meteorologist Peter Little.

'Cloud and drizzle may feature for some western areas as we move through the week.”

Peter says a new front is expected to move onto the South Island on Thursday, preceded by a strong northwesterly flow.

'This brings further rain to Fiordland and Westland, and warmer temperatures for eastern palce,” he adds.

'It's likely a number of towns in the east of both islands will exceed 20 degrees later this week.”

The front stalls over central New Zealand on Friday, bringing rain to the West Coast and the southwest of the North Island.

Expect mostly cloudy skies for other northern and western places, with patchy drizzle to bookend the day.

The continuing northwesterly flow keeps eastern areas mostly fine and warm.