The Bay of Plenty has felt the polar blast moving up the country with snow flurries reported on Rotorua’s outskirts and colder temperatures to come.

Freezing air pushing up from the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic brought snow and travel chaos to much of the South Island yesterday before it moved north, bringing snow to many parts of the North Island.

The big freeze continues today with frosts and road warnings in place for black ice.

MetService said this morning Rotorua dropped to -2.7C overnight while Taupō dipped to -4.3C.

Tauranga’s overnight low was 1.1C.

Rotorua’s high today is 10C while tomorrow’s low is set to drop to -3C.

Friday is expected to be colder still at -4C.

Tauranga’s low tomorrow will be 1C and 0C on Friday.

Mamaku resident Heidi Frank said it started sleeting about 4pm yesterday, then turned more to snow about 5pm.

“[It] didn’t hang around for long, it was pretty neat to watch because it’s so soft and delicate.

“It’s a nice change from heavy rain or strong wind.

“The kids were so excited as they’ve never seen snow falling before, although there wasn’t enough to build snowmen.”

Frank said the last time Mamaku had snow was a massive dump in August 2019.

Meanwhile, the flurry had Rachel Bidois, also from Mamaku, shouting “woohoo” while standing in the middle of her chicken paddock.

The snowfall may have been “tragically lame” compared with what other parts of the country experienced, but Bidois said it was “definitely snow” and “worth a bit of excitement”.

Bidois said tiny, pinprick-like hailstones soon turned to sleet before snow flurries drifted down. The flurries stopped shortly afterwards before returning about 6pm as she was putting out her rubbish bins.

Bidois shared the moment on a community Facebook page, where she said the post attracted “squillions of reactions”.

She said the response showed just how excited the community was to see snow after several years without it, and hoped there would be more.

Bidois said she had lived in Mamaku for about 10 years and remembered snow settling during her first few winters there, but the latest flurries were the first she had seen in several years.

Her phone showed temperatures of -3C on Wednesday morning, with a “feels like” temperature of -7C, and colder conditions forecast overnight.

Geo Rodie in upper Ātiamuri said snow started falling there about 3.30pm and lasted about an hour.

“We had sleet a few years back but nothing like yesterday. My partner has lived here all his life and never seen snow like that up here, so it was very exciting.

“Sadly our young boy was in town at daycare so missed out on seeing snow up close for the first time.”

Snowfall was also reported in areas around Taupō yesterday.

Take care on highways as temperatures plunge

NZ Transport Agency urged extra care across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty state highway networks overnight with below-zero temperatures expected.

Particular care was needed on State Highway 30, SH36, SH38, SH2 Waioweka Gorge and SH5.

Extra care on SH1 south of Tokoroa, SH4, SH46, SH47 and SH49 was also urged.

The Desert Rd remained closed this morning because of icy conditions, NZTA said.