Fresh forecast videos show the predicted path and power of Cyclone Gabrielle as the storm closes in on New Zealand.
It's expected to unleash severe gales, heavy rain and giant seas upon the country - with red warnings already in place.
The first graphic forecast video shows Gabrielle's path, with the cyclone due to track across Northland before moving south, down towards Auckland, Coromandel, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne.
In an update on Saturday, MetService warned there's a "very high risk of extreme and impactful weather" over the upper North Island on late Saturday then it spreads south to central New Zealand by Monday.
The second video shows the swell height building as the cyclone moves around New Zealand.
This is forecast to bring dangerous sea conditions, and Maritime NZ has strongly warned against boaties and recreational craft users being out when Cyclone Gabrielle hits.
The third video shows the amount of rain Cyclone Gabrielle is expected to unleash on New Zealand. Some areas can expect to see accumulations through this event of 250-plus millimetres of rain.
MetService has issued a red heavy rain warning for the Coromandel Peninsula and Tairawhiti/Gisborne north of Tolaga Bay.
MetService orange warnings for heavy rain have been issued for Northland, north Auckland including Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Tairāwhiti Gisborne, and Hawke's Bay.
Thames-Coromandel Civil Defence controller Garry Towler warned people should seriously consider preparing to evacuate if they are in an area prone to flooding or which may be inundated by coastal surge.
"Things have changed a little bit and we are now probably confident to say that a very severe and possibly destructive cyclone is descending on the Coromandel," he said in a YouTube video.
"Now that we have some quite certain information that we are going to have over 400 mils of rain, winds with wind gusts in excess of maybe 140-150 km/h, that we are in a position now to ask people to seriously consider preparing to evacuate."
Watch the three videos above.
