Sunshine is set to continue across the Bay of Plenty in what the MetService is describing as a settled week - but keep an eye out for an icy, wet blast moving up from the South Island.

The round-the-clock weather authority is forecasting a strong cold front to arrive in the far south on Wednesday, before moving up the country by the weekend.

Fine spells are forecast, but temperatures are set to dip this week. Photo: File.

This front is followed by very cold southerlies, and as temperatures plummet over the South Island on Thursday, snow is possible to low levels.

As the front moves north on Friday, the chilly weather spreads up the North Island along with rain for many places.

Tauranga, Coromandel and the Eastern Bay of Plenty are all in line for periods of long fine spells right across the working week before the rain sets in, while Whitianga is forecast to receive the most rain, with the chance of showers every day this week.

Temperatures ranging between nine and 19 degrees are predicted for these areas.

Throughout Tuesday, the front decays over the North Island and a ridge of high pressure builds over the country, bringing settled weather for a couple of days.

However, much colder air is scheduled to arrive later this week following a strong cold front, with a significant drop in temperatures expected.

'The colder air moves up the South Island on Thursday and onto the North Island on Friday, so have the winter woollies ready,” says MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray.

'Although there's some uncertainly at this stage, snow may fall to low levels over the South Island late on Thursday and early Friday.”

The strong southerly winds following the front are also expected to bring large waves to the south coast.

In addition to the cold front, a low is expected to develop over the north-west Tasman Sea on Friday.

This feature could bring significant rain to northern and western parts of the North Island.

'The exact track of the low is hard to pin down at this stage, so keep an eye on forecasts for which areas could be affected,” adds Lisa.