Most of New Zealand will enjoy settled and mostly sunny weather going into the weekend, thanks to a high-pressure system.

After some cold nights and frosty mornings recently, temperatures are expected to go up a few notches over the next few days.

MetService expected the chance of showers to persist in the west from today, especially in the South Island, due to moist air coming in with southwesterly winds to the south of the high-pressure system.

However, the rest of the country should stay mostly clear with sunny skies through the weekend.

Rain is expected to return to the Bay of Plenty from Monday.

“People should enjoy the sunny weather through the weekend while they can, it’s great for outdoor activities, but things may change towards the end of the weekend,” said MetService meteorologist Oscar Shiviti.

On Sunday, clouds will increase over the South Island, mostly in the west, as a rain-bearing front approaches from the northwest.

This could bring heavy rain and strong winds to southern parts of the country.

“This system brings the potential for severe weather, so we encourage people to keep an eye on the MetService website for updates.”

That said, Auckland should stay mostly dry, with only some cloud for Saturday’s rugby match between New Zealand’s Black Ferns and the USA Women.

“By early next week, the front will move north and may bring severe weather to those areas too. Warmer air with this system means nights will likely not be as cold as the new week begins,” added Shiviti.

Next week’s weather will be quite different with cloudier, wetter and windier weather compared to today’s conditions.