Winter is getting closer with thunderstorms and hail in Auckland last night, and a heavy snow watch today over parts of the South Island, Te Wai Pounamu.
It wasn't easy to get a good night sleep last night in the upper North Island, where the MetService recorded about 1,200 lightning strikes.
Auckland alone recorded nearly 350 strikes overnight as four bands of thunderstorms swept through.
And at the southern end of the country, the forecast snow has arrived, bringing an end to unseasonably warm temperatures.
Photo: 123RF
MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
