Several parts of the country will have strong winds and possibly a lot of rain on election day, MetService says. Photo: Getty Images / Hagen Hopkins
Voters may need to take a brolly along with their Easy Vote card when they cast a vote on Saturday.
MetService is forecasting a wet and windy day for those in western and central areas of the country as a low from the Tasman Sea moves in.
However, those in northern and central parts of the North Island can expect mild temperatures and just the odd shower.
For those in the South Island, it could be wet or windy or both, especially for those along the West Coast, MetService says.
"The approaching front delivers heavy rain to the western South Island, but accompanying strong winds push some of that over the Southern Alps," MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said.
Heavy rain watches or warnings are in place for all of election day in some areas, including Tasman west of Motueka, Buller and Grey Districts, Fiordland, Westland south of Otira and round the headwaters of the Canterbury and Otago lakes.
Blustery northerly and norwesters are expected to hit the entire South Island as well as the lower North Island.
Strong wind watches have been issued for some parts, including Wellington, Wairarapa (south of Woodville), the Canterbury high country, Marlborough south of Ward and Fiordland south of Milford Sound.
Makgabutlane said for voters in some parts of New Zealand it would pay to vote early if they don't want to go out in bad weather.
"Whether you're to the left or to the right of the mountains, everywhere will be touched by some weather this weekend, so be sure to check the forecast before heading out. Thursday and Friday are looking like the best of the next three days," she said.
While conditions are expected to ease by saturday night, more unsettled weather is expected to arrive next week.
Read more of RNZ's full election coverage:
- Caucus podcast
- Poll of polls and donations data
- Guide to party policies
- What you need to know before voting
- Post-election negotiations explained
Stay up to date with Checkpoint's live election night special with Lisa Owen, Corin Dann, Jane Patterson and reporters around the country from 7pm to midnight on Saturday, running alongside live data and blogging with electorate and party vote results on RNZ's website. RNZ Asia will also be running its own live blog in Chinese.
实时更新报道， 尽在RNZ中文！ 本周六下午5点起，以中文实时追踪2023年新西兰大选。各党票数、全国选情 、计票进展与最终结果，第一手资讯尽在 www.rnz.co.nz/chinese，本周六，我们与您一同关注大选。
Then on Sunday, stay tuned for the Morning Report special from 8am to 10am, examining the results, the drama, and the changes from the night before: with polls this close, exactly who's in government will likely come down to negotiations.
