The evil weather sausage, as termed by the Waikato Civil Defence, certainly brought a mixture of weather to the Western Bay of Plenty.

Rain, hail, lightning, thunder and sunshine was all experienced last night as a low pressure system moved over the country.

Lightning, hail and thunder was the weather theme in the Tauranga last night. The video was shot by Stuart Old showing lightning in Matua.

SunLive readers sent in photos and a video from all over the Western Bay showing lightning and thunder in Matua, a hailstorm on the Kaimai Range and a rainbow in Te Puke.

Fortunately, the low pressure and cold upper level temperatures are moving away, meaning more settled weather is in store for the weekend.

'While most people will see some fine weather on Saturday, a ridge unfortunately does not mean sunshine for everybody,” says MetService meteorologist Claire Flynn.

'Canterbury and North Otago will be mostly cloudy on Saturday, with occasional rain or drizzle. People in Gisborne, Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa could also expect some gloomy weather.”

Candace Hawkins took this photo of a rainbow in Te Puke.

Today, tomorrow and Monday is looking fine in the Western Bay, according to the MetService's five day forecast.

Showers are being predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday at this stage.

On Sunday, fine weather is expected for most places in the North Island as the drizzle clears out of eastern areas.

'After the warm front crosses the South Island on Sunday, temperatures will start to heat up in the east on Monday. Northwest winds will develop, which will cause the air to dry out and temperatures to rise,” says Claire.

'Temperatures will reach the late twenties or early thirties in many eastern areas.”

The warmth is not expected to last, however. A blustery cold front approaches from the south, reaching Southland on Monday evening and causing temperatures to drop significantly.

This photo was taken by Rachel Stringfellow of a hailstorm on the Kaimai Range.

The Waikato Civil Defence's 'evil weather sausage".