The city of Christchurch shivered under a blanket of thick frost as people woke to below freezing temperatures this morning. 

Do you have pics of the frost? Email reporters@press.co.nz. 

The mercury plunged below zero late last night as a sell-out crowd packed in at AMI Stadium to watch the All Blacks defeat Ireland. 

At 8am today, temperatures were at -4 degrees Celsius. 

A police spokesman said there had not been any reports of ice-related crashes in Canterbury this morning.

MetService is predicting heavy rain, strong winds and snow for the South Island this week. 

On Monday a front is expected to pass eastwards across the centre of the country, bringing with it heavy rain and strong northeasterlies to the Buller and Nelson regions. Heavy rain may persist over the Westland ranges on Tuesday. 

As the rain spreads over the South Island on Monday there may be a period of snow over inland parts of Otago and Canterbury, however, at this stage it is not expected to reach warning levels.

Later on Tuesday, a cold southwest airstream should spread over New Zealand with snow showers likely on the hills in eastern areas of the South Island.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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