Auckland is being pounded by a heavy downpour as a new weather system threatens to bring "unstable conditions" to the North Island.
It was a wet start to Wednesday in the City of Sails, with a low pressure system bringing showers as commuters headed to work. There is surface flooding on some central city roads.
A timelapse from NIWA Weather shows the city's skies going from bright and blue to being hidden by clouds.
In its forecast for the day, Metservice predicts "showers, some heavy, with squally thunderstorms and hail, easing this evening". It also expects northwesterlies gusting to 100km/h north of Orewa before changing to a strong south-westerly in the afternoon.
The heaviest rainfall is expected around between 1pm and 2pm.
WeatherWatch said the low pressure system will bring "potentially unstable conditions" to the North Island, which should expect "heavy showers and possible thunderstorms with hail for western regions". Its rain map shows the centre of the weather system over Auckland and the Bay of Plenty at about 3pm.
The forecaster expects the showers to clear on Wednesday night.
"No particularly strong winds today, although about northern Northland, westerlies become a little gusty then changing southwest this evening. Temperatures in the late teens or early twenties for most, mid teens for some inland areas."
