A tropical cyclone has formed over the Pacific Ocean and is expected to bring "severe weather" to New Zealand in the coming days.
Tropical cyclone Hale is currently just south of New Caledonia and is expected to move southeast before heading down New Zealand's east coast.
While it's currently a category one storm, it will downgrade to a tropical low in just over a day, the Fiji Meteorological Service said.
This tropical cyclone is mostly at sea until it's expected to reform and deepen in the New Zealand area over Tuesday and Wednesday, WeatherWatch said. While it won't be a tropical storm by the time it reaches Aotearoa, it may bring some wet and windy conditions.
"It's expected to then bring some severe weather to the North Island (severe gales, heavy rain, dangerous beach conditions, especially in the east for a time)," they said in a Facebook post.
The tropical cyclone is expected to clear in a couple of days, WeatherWatch added.
New Zealand has been continually battered by heavy rain and strong winds this week and many areas had rain and wind warnings.
The Coromandel was hit with flooding, which caused havoc on the roads and holidaymakers tried to leave the area.
Now, there are four heavy rain watches in place. These are in the Coromandel, Gisborne, the ranges of Hawke's Bay, the Tararua district, Wairarapa, and the eastern hills of Wellington.
The watches for the Coromandel Peninsula and Gisborne are currently forecast to last until Tuesday evening, while the remaining ones end on Sunday.
