For parts of New Zealand, this last week has seen the first touch of winter as temperatures dipped just below freezing in the coldest spots of both the North and South Islands.

Giant waves have also dominated the headlines, with 7m high waves measured around Wellington's South Coast, and even bigger waves slamming the Chatham Islands in recent days.

While the rough seas are slowly abating, settled weather through the weekend leads to more cool mornings, but MetService is forecasting a run of warmer, unsettled weather as we enter next week.

'An area of high pressure continues to build across New Zealand, which brings with it some clear skies and light winds," says MetService meteorologist John Law comments.

"Combined with the cold air that flooded across New Zealand at the start of the week these are the perfect conditions for a few more frosty mornings.

'After that chilly start, there should be plenty of fine weather for the weekend. However, a more active system is set to bring some cloudier, windier and wetter weather in from the north later on Sunday," says John.

Northeasterly winds developing overnight Sunday into Monday spell a wet start to the week, especially for the likes of Northland and the Bay of Plenty. Most regions will get a dose of rain next week with the majority falling in the north and west.

'Although we are going to see the return of unsettled weather next week, we'll also see our overnight temperatures spring back up,” says John.