Mount Maunganui residents are some of many who have woken up to an icy start to the day.

Despite some concerns from residents in the area, MetService meteorologist Mark Bowe says snow is not on the cards for Mauao, Mount Manganui's highest point.

He says the current snow level for the North Island is forecast for 600m which will predominantly hit areas within the central plateau.

'Most of the cold front is situated around central New Zealand, stretching just south of the central plateau from midday.

'Because Mauao is only 232m high, it's unlikely to see snow in this area. Mount Maunganui is far too warm at the moment for snow to form.”

Mark says for snow to occur in the area, a combination of factors would have to happen including snow and temperature levels reaching extreme lows.

'In the South Island what's happening is there is a cold polar outbreak; very cold air is coming from the south and that is spreading all over the South Island.

'What this does is it drops the freezing levels down very low, so you don't have to go that high until you've reached 0°c. Because of this the actual precipitation of the air can form snow.

'Ordinarily when the freezing levels are high the snow is also high, and the precipitation would mean the snow would form then melt and come down as rain anyway.

'Over the next few days anywhere in the North Island that's higher than 600m will be looking at the precipitation of snow, but for anywhere lower than that you would need the snow levels to come down low and for that to happen you would need very cold air.”