What will start out as a cloudy morning for most of the country should clear as the Christmas day wears on, but the odd shower is in store too.

The best spots for enjoying a Christmas hamper outdoors will be in the Bay of Plenty, Nelson and Central Otago tomorrow.

Christchurch police are appealing to the public to help them find a missing 31-year-old man.

Bridget McMenamin worked on the Lisa Blakie murder inquiry. She has launched a Facebook page to investigate the 2000 case again.

Wet weather today will clear throughout the country making way for a mainly fine Christmas weekend.

A $400 Cinderella and Snow White tattoo which left the recipient "utterly disgusted and embarrassed" was only partially done, according to the tattoo store.

Father and daughter bears Sean and Sasa tucked into their usual meal at Wellington Zoo today, but with a Christmas twist. The sun

A man is dead and a woman in hospital after a car rolled into a paddock north of Christchurch this morning.

Burglars snuck into the destroyed two-story house and stole the only salvageable items including a TV, a cabinet and food.

What will the weather be doing on Sunday for Christmas?

Bill English's new Cabinet heard proposals on the earthquake-ravaged Christchurch Cathedral rebuild today.

The owner of a Christchurch home where a man posing as a delivery driver forced his way inside today and tied up a husband and wife for three hours has been "targeted" before, a source says.

There was a record downpour in Auckland, a tornado in Taranaki and "quake lights" above Wellington. Oh, and 2016 was likely also New Zealand's hottest year on record.

A 24-year-old man has been charged with the burglary of a Christchurch home during the tsunami evacuation early on November 14.

A man who tied up three people in Christchurch is still on the run.

A Christchurch brothel owner stands to lose $2m after a judge ruled in favour of police.

Geonet say there is a 98 per cent chance of an aftershock of 6 to 6.9 magnitude in the next year.

Police are seeking two young men after the aggravated robbery of a bus driver in Christchurch.

Police have completed their criminal investigation into the fatal CTV building collapse and are now seeking legal advice on whether charges will be laid.

Two Westport-based companies are targeting the Garden City's potholes and traffic cones through a fun public art installation.

A jealous truck driver who hit his neighbour and occasional lover with a garden gnome and bashed her to death with a metal bar has failed to get off his conviction.

Hundreds of people have lodged injury claims following last month's massive magnitude-7.8 earthquake.

A Christchurch doctor facing "serious" sexual assault charges can now be named.

School leavers remarkably unaffected by earthquakes, surprising research finds.

A former Canterbury primary school principal who groomed a young boy before sexually assaulting him over half a decade was today jailed for more than nine years.

An immediate focus was being put on upgrading State Highway 63 near St Arnaud in the weeks leading up to the very busy Christmas-New Year travel period.

A high-profile murderer suffered life threatening injuries after he was stabbed with glass and wood at Auckland Prison.

A truck has rolled, blocking one lane of State Highway 7 - the temporary main road between Picton and Christchurch.

The latest predictions indicate the rain may stay away on the festive holiday.

What will prisoners be eating for Christmas dinner in New Zealand this year? Corrections have released the annual menu for its 10,000 inmates.