An active front in the Tasman Sea could bring rain and thunderstorms to parts of New Zealand today as it moves over the country.
NIWA Weather wrote on Twitter: "Heads up... Have plans this Easter afternoon and evening?
"For those over the upper-half of the North Island as well as much of the western South Island, showers & thunderstorms will increase."
MetService called the front "strong and complex".
"There are active thunderstorms along this front," the forecaster tweeted.
MetService's thunderstorm outlook warns there is a "moderate risk" of thunderstorms affecting Northland and Auckland from mid or late afternoon, then Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato, Waitomo, Taumarunui and North Taranaki from the evening, and Bay of Plenty, Rotorua and Taupo tonight.
"A low risk covers other central North Island and northern South Island areas tonight, although the risk of thunderstorms could be close to moderate near Golden Bay," the outlook reads, warning there is also a chance of "one or two" small and localised tornadoes.
A severe thunderstorm watch is in place for Bay of Plenty and Rotorua from 10pm tonight to 5am tomorrow, with risks of surface flooding, flash flooding, slips, and squally wind gusts of 90-100 kilometres per hour.
The bad weather is set to continue into tomorrow for parts of the country as the front moves east, the outlook adds.
It comes as a number of heavy rain warnings and watches have been issued around Aotearoa.
Mount Taranaki is under an orange heavy rain warning from 4pm today until 4am tomorrow, while Tasman District northwest of Motueka is under the same warning level from 5pm today to noon on Tuesday.
Heavy rain watches are in place for Bay of Plenty ranges east of Opotiki from 1am tomorrow to 9am tomorrow, Tararua Range from 1pm tomorrow to midnight tomorrow, the Richmond Range including the Rai Valley from 7pm tonight to 11pm Tuesday and Westland from around Otira southwards from 8pm tonight to 6pm tomorrow.
MetService advises people to keep up to date with the latest forecasts on its website.
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