Muggy conditions are expected to persist around the country until a cold front ushers in fresher air on Sunday.

A warm, humid airmass has persisted over New Zealand, resulting in noticeably cloudy conditions for some places for over a week now.

'Apart from Tuesday, Auckland has seen very little sunshine for quite a while. A series of features in this subtropical air has also brought bouts of rain which hasn't always made it easy for outdoor socialising in Level 3,” says MetService meteorologist Luis Fernandes.

The cloudy and wet weather is expected to stay for the next few days, especially for the North Island.

'A broad area of low pressure passes over the country before the weekend, bringing more cloud and rain. It also causes unstable atmospheric conditions so we're likely to see thunderstorms on Friday afternoon for central parts of the two main islands”.

A Heavy Rain Warning is in place for Bay of Plenty, while a Heavy Rain Watch has been issued for Coromandel and Great Barrier Island. These are expected to be lifted later this morning.

There will be a brief period of somewhat settled weather overnight Friday into Saturday morning but by afternoon, a fast-moving front will begin sweeping over the country from the Tasman Sea bringing another bout of rain for most places through to Sunday morning.

It will be noticeably warm and humid on Saturday evening for the North Island ahead of the next front as even more moisture is pulled down ahead of it from the subtropics.

A big change happens into Sunday as the front will have passed over all of Aotearoa by midday.

Behind it, a cooler and drier airmass finally returns, bringing temperatures more in line with what is normally expected for this time of the year.

'The change will be sharpest in Southland and Otago where daytime highs go from low 20's on Saturday to mid to low teens on Sunday, but all of New Zealand will be feeling the change” Fernandes says.

By the start of the workweek there will be little change as a more typical westerly flow is expected, bringing showers for the west coasts of both islands.