A road snowfall warning has been issued for the Central Plateau and Napier-Taupō highway.

A cold front is sweeping north across the country today and into Thursday bringing snow and frost along with it.

Snow will fall to low levels especially in the south and east of the country and several snow watches are in place.

MetService said Desert Rd is expected to get 4 to 6 cm of snow settled on the road on Thursday with the warning in place between 1pm and 10pm.

The Napier-Taupo highway will also get a dusting with 2 to 6cm forecast for Thursday afternoon.

MetService meteorologist April Clark said the coldest place in the North Island overnight was eastern Rangitaiki in the Central Plateau at –6.5C.