"Auckland Freezes, Big Frosts NZ Wide"

"A stunning frost has this morning turned Auckland and parts of the 'winter-less north' into a white winter wonderland following a night of very low temperatures.

For the second morning in the row the normally frost free city has woken to frosts however this morning's one is particularly heavy - with parts of Auckland receiving lower temperatures than most South Island main centres.

Hamilton has again dropped below -4 making it colder than Queenstown.

Head weather analyst Philip Duncan says cold air left over from the long weekend's Antarctic cold snap is to blame. "Polar air from the weekend has been held in place by a large high that has brought simply stunning, sunny, weather to Auckland for the past few days along with bitterly cold nights".

Incredibly by 9pm last night frosts were already being reported in both inland and coastal parts of Auckland says Mr Duncan.

But it's not just Auckland. The Bay of Islands, one of New Zealand's sub-tropical holiday regions, has had two significant frosts in a row.

Mr Duncan says the shortest day of the year is still 3 weeks away with the coldest time of the year typically another 1 and a half to 2 months away."

See also: Freezing families told to toughen up and That's cold, exploding the myth about sub tropical New Zealand