It might pay to hold on to those hats this week with brisk temperatures and wet and windy weather forecast to make its way across the Bay of Plenty.

MetService forecasts a front will move over the South Island on Tuesday and reach the North Island on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain to western areas and blustery winds further east.

Wet and blustery conditions are forecast for the region as the week progresses. Photo: File.

'The main ranges of both islands will have a huge influence on this weather system,” says MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey.

'They will block most of the heavy rain from getting to the east and they will also cause the winds to be gustier, and potentially damaging, in the east.”

A north-west flow is strengthening over the South Island ahead of the approaching front.

The winds strengthen further on Tuesday and severe gales are likely in eastern parts of the South Island and the lower North Island.

'Wellington is going to get very windy, even by Wellington's standards, from Tuesday night through to Wednesday afternoon,” warns Stephen.

The heaviest rain arrives in the west of the South Island on Tuesday, and in the west of the North Island late on Wednesday.

'Some eastern areas may also see some rain at times, but nowhere near as much as the west,” he adds.

In Tauranga, Tuesday and Wednesday will see cloud with highs of 17 and a low of 11 degrees, before the rain moves in to end the week.

The wind is also expected to pick up as the week progresses.

Whakatane, however, could be in line for less rain, which is only forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

The north-west flow will also bring relatively warm temperatures to the east of both islands on Tuesday.

'Temperatures are likely to reach the high teens and possibly even the 20s in some eastern places,” says Stephen.

The front moves away to the east on Thursday, leaving in its wake a colder south-west flow with showers.

Whakatane is set to dip as low as four degrees and Tauranga seven degrees this week.