North Island holidaymakers are being told to pack a raincoat, with forecasters predicting a damp summer.

October was a particularly wet month for Bay of Plenty, while the number of sunshine hours in Auckland last month was at a record low.

A La Nina pattern is expected to bring wet weather to the North Island.

NIWA meteorologist Ben said it is looking like bad news for those heading off on holiday in the North Island.

"Auckland, Northland, Waikato, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, down Gisborne and Hawkes Bay, they have a chance for normal or above normal rainfall as we go through the next three month period."

Meanwhile, weather experts have been reaching for the record books, on the back of a remarkably dry October in Queenstown.

Dry, warm winds meant inland parts of the South Island had record-breaking temperatures for this time of year.

Noll said it has been a month for the record books.

"Second driest October since records began in 1871 a mere six percent of the October normal rainfall."