Easter Weekend is nearly here and many will have four or five days off work or school to enjoy it.

Easter is well known for having rough weather, situated at that rough halfway mark between the longest day of the year in late December and the shortest day in late June.

However Easter 2018 is shaping up pretty positive for most (not all) regions with mostly light winds and warm days, says WeatherWatch.co.nz

"Here's a basic New Zealand-wide forecast for the long weekend."

GOOD FRIDAY:
A few showers possible first thing around Hawke's Bay, Gisborne and Northland - and potentially very early in the Auckland region. Dry everywhere else with mostly light winds nationwide thanks to a large high centred over central NZ. Perfect positioning!

SATURDAY:
A cold front in the Southern Ocean clips the lower South Island, breaking the front in half and sending some rain up the West Coast. It fizzles out by the time it reaches about Westport later in the day. Most other regions are dry but a few spits are possible briefly in Southland and Otago and a few light showers may also hug Coromandel Peninsula to the east and Bay of Plenty. Winds are light in the North Island with a westerly flow over the South Island.

EASTER SUNDAY
A bit of cloud and a few light showers in the western side of both islands, mostly the West Coast and the south west corner of the North Island but even then it will be mostly dry there - and dry elsewhere. Winds are light in most places on Sunday.

EASTER MONDAY:
Rain retuns to the West Coast with heavy falls. A few showers may affect the North Island's west coast. Most other places are dry with fairly light winds.

- WeatherWatch.co.nz