Strong wind set to lash much of the country - will bring in soaring temperatures too

There are weather watches in place from Napier to Invercargill, with 130 kilometre an hour gusts expected in Canterbury.

Metservice's Dan Corrigan says wind patterns will make for a hot afternoon.

He says in those north westerlies we'll be seeing temperatures in the 20s, which is quite high for this time of year, as they'd normally be in the mid-teens.