By Kymberlee Fernandes of RNZ

The South Island will be the place to be this Easter weekend with sunny weather forecast, but there's a chill coming first.

MetService meteorologist Clare O'Connor said there would be a large spread of temperatures across Aotearoa in the lead up to Easter.

Hawke's Bay was expected to reach 27C Tuesday and Wednesday, whereas the lower South Island, Dunedin and Southland in particular, would reach maximum temperatures of only 13C or 14C.

By Thursday, a chill will begin to be felt in the North as well as the South Islands.

Cold south-westerlies will bring snow down to about 600 metres in Southland and Otago, as a cold front moves northwards over southern and central New Zealand.

The South Island would see the "driest and brightest weather, particularly the West Coast" on Easter weekend.

Central Otago and inland Canterbury will also see the sun.

But a low pressure would bring an unsettled time for the North Island, especially for the East Coast.

"Wherever you'll be, a couple of extra layers will be required as we've some cold weather in store," O'Connor said.

On Saturday, heavy rain and strong wind are expected to hit parts of the North Island for a time.

MetService said that could result in rain warnings for Gisborne/Tairawhiti, Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa, and severe gale warnings for parts of eastern Bay of Plenty, eastern Taupō, Taranaki, Manawatū, Horowhenua, Kāpiti , Wellington and the Marlborough Sounds.

There was a heavy rain warning for Canterbury High Country till Wednesday morning.

And Crown Range Road can expect some snow showers overnight with a road snowfall warning, and Clutha and Dunedin have a strong wind watch in place.

Main image (Unsplash/Alisa Anton): The South Island will see the sun, the North Island will have some unsettled weather.