The top of the North Island could be in for severe thunderstorms tonight after the Auckland region was hit by heavy rain and strong winds this afternoon.
Over 1,000 Auckland homes were without power after heavy rain and gale-force winds brought down trees and power lines this afternoon.
A severe thunderstorm has been issued for Northland, northern and eastern parts of Auckland, and Coromandel Peninsula from this evening until tomorrow morning, bringing downpours of 25 to 40mm/hr or more.
The heavy rainfall could cause surface or flash flooding, slips and hazardous driving conditions, the MetService said.
Severe gales may also hit Northland and Waikato near the Kaimai Range.
Widespread and heavy rain has eased for the region but isolated thunderstorms and downpours of 25 to 35mm/hr are still possible.
Earlier today a front near Auckland is moving southwards, causing severe rain and easterly gales of up to 120km/h in some areas.
Members of the public have been advised to watch for evacuations in low-lying areas. (Source: Other)
The heavy rain has caused flooding in parts of Piha with locals being advised to watch for evacuations in low-lying areas.
There have also been some land slips in Oratia, West Auckland, but emergency services say they're not currently affecting nearby residential properties.
In the suburb of Mt Roskill, power lines caught fire after arcing into one another just before 1pm today, a Fire spokesperson said.
Power company Vector says branches falling onto power lines and a car crashing into a power pole have caused most of the outages accross the city.
In a statement released this afternoon, Vector says its crews are responding to outages when it's safe to do so.
The wintry weather is also causing issues in other parts of the city, with police saying a fallen tree is comletely blocking Mountain Road in Waitakere while there are also a number of reports of trees down and fences partially blocking roads in Waitemata District.
There are also reports of flooding in Henderson and Glendene.
Today's stormy weather comes almost three weeks after a devastating storm left around 180,000 homes and businesses without power across the region.
Vector said their crews have reported hundreds of damaged or weakened trees following the April 10 storm which could pose a danger to members of the public.
Heavy rain is not only expected for Auckland but the Coromandel Peninsula west of Whakatane, western Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, northwest Nelson, Canterbury and Westland, MetService said.
Meanwhile, weather warnings are in place for Dunedin, North Otago, northern Canterbury, Waikato and Taupo could see heavy rain overnight.
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