Auckland blanketed in fog while a cold front due to cover Aotearoa from Tuesday

Get ready for a chilly week with a cold southwesterly flow set to cover the country from Tuesday through to Wednesday.

Auckland woke on Monday to a blanket of fog, but this has so far not caused disruptions to flights.

A pair of fronts are moving up the South Island, bringing rain to the west coast, followed by showers, and cold showery conditions to the south.

Metwservice is expecting the snow level to lower throughout the day with snow falling as low as 300-400m in Southland and Clutha from this afternoon, and to 400-600m for Dunedin, Otago, and Queenstown Lakes from Monday afternoon.

There are several road snowfall warnings in place for Milford Rd, Crown Range, Lindis Pass, Porters Pass and Arthur’s Pass.

For the North Island, a cloudy day is in store for most with one or two showers around. The fronts reach the north in the afternoon, bringing rain to western areas south of Waikato and evening, and further north overnight.

Eastern regions such as Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne are in for a fine day, with just some high cloud towards the end of the day.

Temperatures will peak in the low – mid teens for the North Island and most of the South Island. But those southern areas exposed to the cold showery southwesterlies from Otago southwards can expect highs of 8-11C.

The front which is due to hit on Tuesday morning will move northwards over the South Island late in the day and Wednesday, and the North Island early Thursday.

This cold snap is expected to bring a period of rain to the South Island later Tuesday and Wednesday, with snow lowering to low levels in the south and east of the South Island on Wednesday.

The southern and central North Island may see snow hit on Thursday morning too.

This snow is likely to affect high country roads, and there is low confidence that snowfall amounts may reach warning criteria above 500 metres in parts of Central Otago, inland Dunedin and Fiordland on Wednesday morning.

A ridge of high pressure then spreads over New Zealand later Thursday and Friday, but a new front may move onto the South Island late Friday.