Auckland and Northland face a thundery Easter Sunday with heavy rain, hail, damaging winds and localised tornados all possible later in the day.
An active front coming from the Tasman Sea is expected to begin moving over the country during the second half of Sunday, bringing an elevated risk of thunderstorms.
MetService warns these thunderstorms may become severe and a severe thunderstorm watch could be issued.
"For Northland there is a moderate risk of thunderstorms during the afternoon, evening and at night. These storms may be accompanied by heavy rain, 10 to 25mm/h, small hail, 90 to 100km/h wind gusts and there is a chance of localised tornadoes," MetService warned in its thunderstorm outlook.
"There is a low risk of one or two severe damaging tornadoes."
"For Auckland including Great Barrier Island and the far north of the Coromandel Peninsula there is a moderate risk of thunderstorms during the evening and at night. These storms may be accompanied by heavy rain, 10 to 25mm/h, small hail, 90km/h wind gusts and there is a chance of localised tornadoes. There is a low risk of one or two severe damaging tornadoes.
"At night there is a moderate risk of thunderstorms for the north of Taranaki, Waikato, the south of the Coromandel Peninsula and the coastal Bay of Plenty as indicated on the chart. These storms may be accompanied by heavy rain, 10 to 25mm/h."
Meanwhile at night MetService warns there's a low risk of thunderstorms in a broader area including the far west of Tasman, the remainder of Taranaki, Waitomo, Rotorua and the north of Gisborne.
