Vector has warned Aucklanders to brace for widespread power cuts, with strong winds that may cause "gale surges, thunderstorms and localised tornadoes" anticipated in the next 24 to 36 hours.
The power company says it has put extra storm management teams and response crews on its roster so that it can "respond quickly if required".
"We know it's the school holidays with lots of families at home and reliant on power for warmth and entertainment such as laptops," says Vector's Head of Network Field Services, Marko Simunac.
"If the weather causes damage to power lines, we'll aim to restore power as quickly as possible while ensuring the safety of our crews and the public.
"This means that we may need to remotely shut down power to that area as a public safety precaution until crews arrive on site."
Vector says while crews are trained to work in all weather conditions, it may prove too dangerous - and that means Aucklanders could face a wait for their power to come back on.
"There may be circumstances during which it is unsafe for them to begin or continue working to fix outages - for example during high winds," Simunac says.
Weather Watch says westerly winds will surge twice in the North Island over the next couple of days - first on Tuesday then on Wednesday, when gusts of 100km/h are possible "from Auckland north to Cape Reinga".
"Some isolated power cuts and trees down are possible," the forecaster said on Tuesday. "Gales will also skirt past Dunedin/Otago Peninsula and the eastern North Island."
MetService warns the powerful winds are likely to be accompanied by a sharp temperature drop.
"While those further north or in lower lying areas may feel they've escape the worst of the weather tomorrow, they're likely be wrong," a Facebook post reads.
"[The] cold front [is] delivering face-numublingly cold southerlies to eastern regions of both Island along with a good bout of sideways rain to those north of Wellington (sic).
"In addition southwesterlies are forecast to reach gale force in exposed places during the morning with a Strong Wind Watch out for many regions in the upper Norht Island (including Auckland)."
On Sunday, NIWA Weather warned that Wednesday would bring "damaging wind gusts for the upper North Island".
MetService says the "adverse conditions" across New Zealand are expected to let up on Thursday.
"Apart from some lingering showers for Southland and the Wairarapa, most of the weather clears up on Thursday, ushering in a fine, but crisp end to the week," it said.
Weather Watch says from Thursday, a "significant" high pressure belt will make landfall in New Zealand bringing dry, sunny conditions.
This will cause rainfall levels to "drop to below normal again", it warns.
"The next big high pressure could linger from late this week, through the weekend and across all of next week, bringing only a few showers here and there otherwise leaning dry," Weather Watch says.
In a weather outlook for July released last week, Weather Watch said huge highs from Australia would bring "extended dry spells" to the country - particularly in the north and east.
