Heavy rain and strong winds are set to batter parts of New Zealand today, with weather warnings and watches in place.
MetService says a front is forecast to move east across the country, with a low deepening near East Cape tonight, before moving away to the southeast.
A heavy rain warning is now in place for many parts of the North Island including Northland, the Coromandel Peninsula and the Bay of Plenty west of Kawerau and the northwest ranges of Nelson in the south.
In Northland, a further 30 to 50mm of rain is expected to accumulate on top of what has already fallen.
MetService says driving conditions could be hazardous, with the possibility of streams and rivers rising rapidly, and surface flooding and slips occurring.
The bad weather in Auckland has already hit this morning, with "blustery northeasterlies" accompanying the rain. At 8am MetService said winds were blowing at 81km per hour on the Harbour Bridge.
Meanwhile, a strong wind watch is in place for the Bay of Plenty east of Whakatāne and Gisborne for much of today. Winds may approach severe gale at times.
"Additionally, strong to gale northeast flow preceding this front is expected to affects parts of the upper North Island while strong to gale force winds are expected around the deepening low near East Cape and Wind Watches related to these are also in force," according to MetService.
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