It's not a total wash out for Bay of Plenty holiday makers with the MetService predicting the sun to make a welcome return Tuesday and Wednesday.

But unfortunately it won't last long. Rain will ease over the next few days as a ridge of high pressure builds from the west. However, an area of low pressure is expected to approach the country on Thursday, bringing further rain across the country by the end of the week.

Tauranga's weather cam.

The weekend has been a wash out for many holiday destinations as an area of low pressure brought wet weather down from the tropics.

Whitianga recorded 65mm of rain in the 24 hours to midday Saturday.

"The rain brought some reprieve to parched farmland in the north yesterday, and the top of the South Island and the east of the North Island are getting a good soaking today," says meteorologist Emma Blades.

The rain will gradually ease in most places tonight. The South Island clears tomorrow afternoon, but showers hang on in the north and east of the North Island, before clearing everywhere but Northland on Wednesday.

Temperatures will be a little cooler tomorrow as a southerly change gradually moves up the country today and tomorrow.

Rain is forecast for Tauranga tomorrow, with brief showers then fine with a south-easterly developing. Tomorrow's high will be 22C and an overnight low of 11C.

Tuesday and Wednesday's forecast is for fine weather with easterlies with a high of 20C and 21C respectively. The sunshine should last a couple of days, as a ridge of high pressure moves over the country from the west.

"Make the most of the sunshine though, as an area of low pressure is forecast to approach the South Island on Thursday, bringing rain and strong northerlies to the west, before crossing the country on Friday," Emma says.

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings at metservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates on MetService TV, at MetService New Zealand on Facebook, @metservice and @MetServiceWARN on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com