Aucklanders are thawing out from their coldest night so far this year but temperatures did not plummet as low as one South Island town's high.

MetService meteorologist Tom Adams said New Zealand's largest city dived to 1.4 degrees Celsius overnight on Saturday, with frost settling over much of the city.

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That contrasted with popular South Island tourist spot Tekapo, in the Mackenzie District, where the sun could not heat the town above a high of -0.4C on Saturday.

"Tekapo couldn't even get above zero," Adams said.

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"It was -12C on Friday night, rose up to -0.4C, that was their high temperature, before dropping back down -11.8C last night."

The snow would not be melting at Mt Cook, the coldest place in the country overnight as temperatures dropped to a bone-chilling -13.3C, Adams said.

"On Friday night it got down to -13.7C. Now that's a July record, but it's not really saying much because [the weather station] has only been there since 2012."

In the north, a station in the eastern Rangitikei district recorded a drop to -10.4C, while Waiouru sat at -7.2C, Rotorua -3.2C, Taupo -5.2C, Whenuapai -2.1C and Levin -1.8C.

"Napier might be sunny but it got down to -1.0C, Masterton was -0.9C. Heaps of North Island places were getting into the negatives.

"Even Tauranga just dipped below -0.1C ... But there was only the one place around the country [on Saturday] which didn't break zero as a maximum temperature."

Elsewhere down south, Christchurch Airport hit -5.6C, but conditions were far from setting records.

"In July 1980 it got down to -6.8C, so considerably colder than that. The record was -7.2C in June 1975 ... [Saturday night] doesn't make the top five," Adams said.

"In terms of coldest temperatures ever, excluding the fact that it was in July ... -5.6C is the joint 22nd coldest temperature Christchurch has had."

St Arnaud also had one of the South Island's lowest lows overnight at -8.9C.

Adams said Saturday's fine weather would continue into Sunday for most as a high pressure ridge sat over the country.

The exception would be Fiordland and other parts of the West Coast, where cloud would increase throughout the day and bring showers by Sunday evening.

Where present, wind would swing north in many places to make for a slightly warmer day than Saturday.

Kaitaia would have the country's high at 14C, compared with 12.5C on Saturday.