Strong winds will dominate in the coming days as spring westerlies hit the North Island.

Sunshine and gusty westerlies are predicted for Tauranga until Thursday when showers will develop.

MetService's chief forecaster Peter Kreft says today's weather should be reasonably benign with strong winds likely in eastern regions of the North Island.

'Rain and strong winds are likely over much of the North Island for a time on Thursday,” says Peter.

'Thursday also sees strong, cold, showery southwesterlies spreading across a large part of the country, bringing the possibility of snow in southern New Zealand and another burst of large sea waves along western and southern coasts.”

The MetService says the Bay of Plenty should experience fine weather for the first half of the week with temperatures around 18 to 20 degrees.
Peter says it is still too early to say how the Labour Weekend weather will play out.

'It's a question of whether or not we see a break-down in the westerly pattern. This will be clearer in a couple of days' time.”