Kiwis will be waking to frosts and frozen windscreens after an icy night where temperatures plummeted into the negatives right across the country.

Even some areas of Auckland dropped below 0C, with Whenuapai Aerodrome recording -0.2C just before 6am, and many other stations sitting around 0C.

The coldest place to be this morning though was St Arnaud in the Nelson Lakes region where it got down to -6.5C.

The main centres were slightly warmer, with Timaru taking the frosty prize in the South Island on -4.2C, and Taupō in the North Island on -3.2C.

MetService meteorologist Hannah Moes said the cold temperatures were being driven by a ridge of high pressure that had formed over the country, clearing the skies and calming the winds.

Like yesterday after a cold start most places should warm up to a fine winter's day.

Some spots could see a bit of fog this morning, possibly around Taumarunui and Nelson Lakes, but it would be isolated.

"Nothing like what we have seen in the past few days," Moes said.

A series of fronts would start to impact the far south today, with some rain forecast for Southland and Fiordland, and high cloud spreading across the South Island.

Tomorrow a northwest pattern would develop in the South Island, ahead of a front arriving Friday, bringing with it a temperature rise. That same pattern would arrive in the North Island Friday.