Severe thunderstorm watch for Auckland, upper North Island

Severe thunderstorm watches are in place for the upper North Island with downpours and flash flooding possible throughout the day.

Heavy rain warnings and strong wind watches have also been issued for other regions.

This morning, MetService issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Auckland, Great Barrier Island, the Coromandel Peninsula the Bay of Plenty, and Rotorua alongside existing alerts for Northland and Taranaki.

"There is a moderate risk of localised downpours of 25 to 40 mm/h," the forecaster said.

"Rainfall of this intensity can cause surface and flash flooding, especially about low-lying areas such as streams, rivers or narrow valleys, and may also lead to slips."

Yesterday, MetService warned of an active front, preceded by gale north-easterlies, that was expected to move over the upper North Island today.

Orange heavy rain warnings were issued for Northland, the Bay of Plenty, Tongariro National Park, and Mount Taranaki.

MetService meteorologist Heather Keats told Breakfast that for many parts of the country overnight it was "very windy and quite wet".

"There's an active front that is moving up and over the South Island, that's been responsible for all the warnings and watches for rain and strong winds as well."

She said the strongest wind gust recorded was 150km/h in Methven high country.

"As for the rain, Tasman District has received the most in the last sort of 6 to 12 hours, but actually Hokitika in the last hour had 23mm of rain," she said.

Keats said as that front moves north, the South Island would get "a much brighter and calmer afternoon and evening".

However, in the North Island, Keats said another area of low pressure was going to hit Northland and Auckland today.

"There’s a whole lot of rain, a whole lot of wind still to come."

Watch 1News weather presenter Daniel Corbett's full breakdown of the storm on TVNZ+

She said the rain in Northland was just starting to arrive as of 7am, and heavy falls for Auckland were expected today into the afternoon and evening.

"We’re going to have some downpours and its likely to be thunderstorms as well today."

Localised downpours could spark up during the middle of the day in Auckland.

Severe thunderstorm watch

Northland – 8 hours from 9am to 5pm

Taranaki – 7 hours and 30 minutes from 8.30am to 4pm

Auckland, Great Barrier Island - 5 hours from 2pm to 7pm

Coromandel Peninsula - 6 hours from 4pm to 10pm

Bay of Plenty, Rotorua - 6 hours from 5pm to 11pm

Orange heavy rain warning

Northland – 9 hours from 9am to 6pm

Bay of Plenty east of Maketu, and Gisborne/Tairawhiti north of Ruatoria - 21 hours from 9am Friday to 6am Saturday

Mount Taranaki – 6 hours from 9am to 3pm

Tongariro National Park – 11 hours from 9am to 8pm

Heavy rain watch

Auckland including Great Barrier Island – 11 hours from 9am to 8pm

Coromandel Peninsula, and Bay of Plenty west of Maketu, except Rotorua, including the Kaimai Range - 13 hours from 9am to 10pm

Waikato excluding the Kaimai Range, also Waitomo, Taumarunui and Taupō – 11 hours from 9am to 8pm

North Taranaki excluding Mount Taranaki – 9 hours from 9am to 6pm

Nelson northwest of Motueka – 3 hours from 9am to 12pm

Wellington and Kapiti Coast - 5 hours from 12pm to 5pm

The Richmond and Bryant Ranges, Rai Valley - 6 hours from 9am to 3pm

Strong wind watch

Northland – 5 hours from 9am to 2pm

Auckland including Great Barrier Island – 8 hours from 9am to 4pm

South Taranaki, inland Whanganui and Taihape – 6 hours from 9am to 3pm