Farmers in the west and south of the country are being warned to protect their stock as a winter storm belatedly hits the country.

MetService is forecasting strong winds for most of the country, followed by rain and snow to low levels.

WeatherWatch’s Philip Duncan says the storm is one of the largest on the planet and is going affect most regions over the weekend.

“There’s a risk of snow, maybe some heavy falls around Southland and Otago. Coupled with this colder air moving in on Saturday, I think it’s going to be a fairly troublesome time for some farmers. But hopefully [it will be] short lived, and by Sunday we’ll start to see a bit of an improvement.”

The west coast of the South Island is one area which will bear the brunt of the storm.

West Coast Rural Support Trust officer Diane Milne says locals are accustomed to cold snaps, and most farmers will be well prepared.

“I think everybody on the coast will just be taking things as they usually do, we get a lot of bad weather here, so I think everybody should already have their systems in place.

"Getting stock to sheltered paddocks is about all you can do at times like this.”