A large number of weather alerts have been issued for regions up and down the country as two active fronts approach New Zealand.
You can find a full list of all weather watches and warnings below.
According to MetService, the first front would be preceded by heavy rain and gale north-westerlies, and was expected to move northwards over the South Island today and tomorrow morning.
Another active front, preceded by gale north-easterlies, was expected to move over the upper North Island tomorrow.
Orange heavy rain warnings were issued for parts of the North and South Islands.
1News weather presenter Daniel Corbett said the risk of “squally winds, perhaps even a coastal funnel and a small tornado” couldn’t be ruled out as the stormy conditions swept through.
Watch 1News weather presenter Daniel Corbett’s full breakdown of the storm on TVNZ+
“For parts of the Far North, there is a risk of some thunderstorms, some of them could be severe, as we run toward the end of the week … because its that tropical moisture, it rains really hard, there is risk of some flash flooding as well.”
For the South Island, orange rain warnings were issued for Fiordland (about and north of Doubtful Sound), the headwaters of the Otago lakes and rivers, the headwaters of the South Canterbury lakes and rivers, and the ranges of the Westland District.
The ranges of the Westland District were expected to get between 140 to 180 mm of rain, especially around and south of the glaciers. That warning is in place for 21 hours from 9am today to 6am tomorrow.
The other regions were expected to get between up to 150mm of rain, with warnings lasting from this morning until tonight.
“We’ll find that wet weather continues pushing from the west, feeding into places like northern Fiordland and up in towards the ranges of western. That’s where we’ve got our heavy rain warnings on the South Island,” MetService meteorologist John Law said.
Heading into tomorrow, orange rain warnings in the North Island were issued for Northland, Bay of Plenty (about and east of Whakatāne and Gisborne/Tairāwhiti north of Ruatoria), Tongariro National Park and Mount Taranaki/Taranaki Mounga.
Mount Taranaki/Taranaki Mounga was expected to experience the most rain, with 150 to 250mm predicted to fall. The region’s warning was for 15 hours from midnight tonight to 3pm on Friday.
Most of the warnings in the North Island would be in place between tomorrow morning and tomorrow evening.
“For the North Island, you can see again that those western parts of the island are set to be wettest, particularly up in toward places like Northland, those eastern parts of Bay of Plenty and those high spots like Taranaki Mounga and also into the Tongariro National Park.
“You can see, generally a fair bit of wet weather, all the way from north Taranaki up towards Auckland and across toward the Bay of Plenty, so we’ve got watches that cover many parts of that region.
Law said that for places like Auckland, there could be some “intense” bursts of rain through the morning and “perhaps the odd rumble of thunder”.
MetService warned that streams and rivers could rise “rapidly”. Surface flooding, slips, and difficult driving conditions were possible.
“Clear your drains and gutters to prepare for heavy rain. Avoid low-lying areas and drive cautiously,” the forecaster said.
Northland was also under a severe thunderstorm watch for eight hours between 9am and 5pm tomorrow. MetService said there was a moderate risk of downpours of 25 to 40 mm/h.
“Rainfall of this intensity can cause surface and/or flash flooding, especially about low-lying areas such as streams, rivers or narrow valleys, and may also lead to slips.”
Several heavy rain watches were also issued across the country.
They were in Auckland (including the Great Barrier Island), Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty (west of Whakatāne including the Kaimai Range), Waikato (excluding the Kaimai Range), Waitomo, Taumarunui, Taupō, North Taranaki (excluding the Mount Taranaki/Taranaki Mounga), Nelson northwest of Motueka, The Richmond and Bryant Ranges, and the Rai Valley.
Strong wind watches were issued for Queenstown Lakes District, Central Otago, Clutha west of Tapanui, Fiordland, Southland, Stewart Island, Northland, Auckland, South Taranaki, inland Whanganui, Taihape, and the Canterbury High Country.
“Through Thursday afternoon, we’ll find the stronger winds in those inland parts of Otago and the Canterbury high country,” Law said.
“We’ll perhaps find some stronger winds around these inland parts of Taranaki and up in towards Whanganui, but also a pretty blustery day through Northland and Auckland. Gusts of perhaps 90km/h in those northerly winds, so we’ll have to keep in mind it will be a windy and wet looking Friday.”
Full list of weather watches and warning
Severe thunderstorm watch
Northland – 8 hours from 9am Friday
Orange heavy rain warning
Northland – 14 hours from 3am Friday
Bay of Plenty about and east of Whakatāne, Gisborne/ Tairawhiti north of Ruatoria – 12 hours from 3pm Friday
Tongariro National Park – 12 hours from 8am Friday
Mount Taranaki – 15 hours from midnight Thursday
The ranges of Westland – 21 hours from 9am Thursday
Headwaters of South Canterbury lakes and rivers – 9 hours from 10pm Thursday
Headwaters of Otago lakes and rivers – 9 hours from 4pm Thursday
Fiordland about and north of Doubtful Sound – 12 hours from 9am Thursday
Heavy rain watch
Auckland including Great Barrier Island – 12 hours from 6am Friday
Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty west of Whakatāne including the Kaimai Range – 12 hours from 8am Friday
Waikato excluding the Kaimai Range, also Waitomo, Taumarunui and Taupō – 12 hours from 8am Friday
North Taranaki excluding Mount Taranaki – 18 hours from midnight Thursday
Nelson northwest of Motueka – 15 hours from 9pm Thursday
The Richmond and Bryant Ranges, Rai Valley – 18 hours from 9pm Thursday
Strong wind watch
Queenstown Lakes District, Central Otago and Clutha west of Tapanui – 12 hours from 9am Thursday
Fiordland, Southland and Stewart Island – 10 hours from 9am Thursday
Northland – 8 hours from 4am Friday
Auckland including Great Barrier Island – 8 hours from 7am Friday
South Taranaki, inland Whanganui and Taihape – 9 hours from 6am Friday
Canterbury High Country – 17 hours from 9am Thursday