Have a jacket handy! Auckland and much of North Island set for a drenching this weekend

A front of possible thunderstorms and heavy rain is due to push over the country this weekend, with the rain especially heavy from Saturday.

MetService says in its latest Sever Weather Outlook that the ridge of high pressure currently bringing clear skies to much of the country will retreat on Friday evening.

That will give room for a large area of low pressure to develop over the Tasman Sea on Friday, which will bring rain and possible strong easterly winds.

MetService has moderate confidence that heavy rain will hit Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Taupo and northern Gisborne.  

There is also the possibility of thunderstorms in parts of the North Island over the weekend.

It's possible heavy rain could also impact Westland, Buller, Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury and eastern Otago.

Strong winds are possible over much of the North Island, except for the Wairarapa.

From Sunday to Monday, heavy rain will pass over Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa and Wellington.

Meanwhile, the clear skies of late have helped night-time temperatures get as low as -1C in Waiouru overnight, Masterton to 1C and Blenhiem to 2C.