Fine weather with light winds is good news for families looking for outdoor activities to do in the remaining weeks of the school holidays.

In Tauranga the light winds are expected to become northwesterly this afternoon with a temperature high of 25 degrees Celsius and an overnight low of 12 degrees. 

On Tuesday cool southerlies will be affecting much of the country, according to the MetService forecast.

A ridge of high pressure will affect New Zealand on Wednesday and Thursday.

Rain coming later in the week

Getting outdoors and enjoying bush walks and beach excursions is a good plan for the first part of this week, as rain is expected by Friday.

"A band of rain with strong northeasterly winds may move south onto Northland on Friday," a MetService spokesperson said.

"There is low confidence that warning amounts of rain will accumulate there."

It will be time to plan some indoor activities, as Tauranga and surrounds can expect rain each day from Friday, Janiuary 17 through to Tuesday, January 21.