Chilly temperatures have swept the country this morning, with the warmest temperature almost touching double digits.

The coldest temperature in the country this morning was Twizel at -5.6C.

The warmest is — believe it or not — Wellington, with 9.6C being recorded in Lyall Bay.

Christchurch will also have its coldest night of the week tonight, with temperatures dropping to -3.3C.

MetService meteorologist Alec Holden said there are two reasons why the cold has settled in.

Do you have any photos of your chilly start this morning? Email news@tvnz.co.nz

"First is a south-westerly flow dragging Antarctic air over the country."

The second reason, Holden explained, is due a ridge of high pressure, which is causing infrared to leave the surface, cooling the temperature.

Over the weekend, Holden said the frost is likely to stay, but the weather outside of the cold is uneventful.

"Auckland may have it the worst with the continued south-westerly and a few showers [on Saturday]."

Auckland is set to hit a high of 13C today and experience a chilly 3C overnight.

When asked what the coldest recorded high in Auckland was, Holden said it was 9C on July 4, 1996, exactly 28 years ago today.

He added while we are still a ways off of that, it is still "quite balmy" in the City of Sails today.

On Monday, MetService warned colder nights were coming as winter settled in.