Much of the country can expect heavy rain and wild winds today.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, NIWA principal scientist Chris Brandolino said most of the bad weather will only last for a day or so.
"Aucklanders pack the umbrella and the patience, it's going to be wet, windy and rainy through to about 9pm.
"Bay of Plenty, Gisborne ranges, you're going to find steady rain moving in later this morning, especially this afternoon through the evening."
He said the rain and strong winds will ease for some parts of the North Island later this morning.
But the South Island's forecast is a "multiday affair" with heavy rain throughout the week, he said.
Brandolino added May has been an unusually warm month but that's "all about to change".
"A big change coming this weekend, the long weekend as we open up the books of winter, meteologically speaking, and it looks like we'll have temperatures that are aligned with winter as we make our way into the long weekend.
"So we're talking about gusty winds, cold temperatures for the South Island and some of those cold temperatures will be moving north on Sunday and Monday."
Brandolino also said most parts of New Zealand have had twice the amount of normal rainfall for the month of May.
"And that's before the rain that happened last night and the rain this morning is taken into account.
"In summary, upper North Island, Auckland the next few hours are going to be quite windy, quite wet, so you're going to have to be patient because it is a slow commute," he said.
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