Northland residents are being warned of rising rivers, surface flooding, slips and hazardous driving conditions due to thundery downpours in the region, MetService says.
MetService has issued a severe weather warning for Northland and 120mm of rain is expected to fall in the area today.
Meteorologist Gerrit Keyser said lightning was striking just north of the North Island this morning, and thunder storms were expected to move into Northland.
NZTA has warned motorists in the area to take extra care in the roads and to drive to conditions.
Updated Heavy Rain Watches & Warnings have been issued https://t.co/qHyE5zhh6X However, briefly heavy falls are likely for many areas into the weekend as a front slowly sinks over the country. For more details check your regions forecast at https://t.co/hnwmGxU1gR ^AC pic.twitter.com/Fj04LNYnbt
— MetService (@MetService) February 8, 2018
A severe weather watch has been issued for Gisborne until late this afternoon, while a watch for Auckland north of the Harbour Bridge, Great Barrier Island and Coromandel Peninsula has been lifted.
Mr Keyser said a wet weekend was likely for much of the North Island, with rain reaching northern parts of the South Island tomorrow evening and moving further south on Sunday.
Rain would also move into the South Island from the West Coast, he said
Meanwhile, MetService is keeping a close eye on a potential cyclone developing in the Pacific, but Mr Keyser said it was too far out to predict any movement of the weather system.
Here's the latest update from @FijiMet, which indicates a moderate-high chance for cyclone formation near Samoa over the next day. pic.twitter.com/4YPkhF8nJQ
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) February 8, 2018