Much of the country is in for a week of wet weather as a front and "tropical disturbance" cause heavy rainfall.
The first of the week's wet weather came from a front moving northwards across the South Island on Tuesday and then will become slow-moving across the lower North Island on Wednesday.
It brought a period of heavy rain for western and northern parts of the South Island, and also for parts of the lower North Island, prompting MetService to issue a series of weather warnings and watches.
An orange heavy rain warning is in place for Tasman west of Motueka and the ranges of Buller until Wednesday morning with up to 120mm of rain. A heavy rain warning for the ranges of Westland from Otira southwards is also in place until 9pm Tuesday with rain expected to reach up to 150mm.
MetService has also issued an orange heavy rain warning for the Richmond and Bryant Ranges, also the Rai Valley area and northern parts of the Marlborough Sounds, from 8pm Tuesday until 9am Wednesday with up to 110mm of rain expected.
Meanwhile, a heavy rain watch is in place for the ranges of Westland north of Otira and the headwaters of the Canterbury lakes and rivers about and south of Arthur's Pass until Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning.
A heavy rain watch has also been issued for Mount Taranaki, Tararua Range, Wellington, Kapiti Coast, and Wairarapa south of Greytown for Wednesday.
But the wet weather isn't going away anytime soon with a "tropical disturbance" on its way bringing wet weather later this week.
MetService said the front responsible for the current array of watches and warnings is expected to weaken over central New Zealand on Thursday.
But heavy rain and strong winds are expected to continue to affect parts of the country on Friday and Saturday from a source much further north.
A low-pressure centre on the north moves southwards towards Aotearoa over the next few days, lying just west of the country on Friday. As it approaches the country it is forecasted to bring rain and strong winds with it.
"At this stage, there is still some uncertainty around the movement and intensity of the low," MetService said.
"Most of the North Island and upper half of the South Island is set to get rain, and currently models indicate the higher rainfall amounts will be around western and central parts of the North Island."
However, the locations of the high rainfall could change in the coming days.
"Strong winds are also expected, mainly for the upper North Island. As the low crosses over the country during Saturday, winds will pick up over the rest of the North Island too," MetService said.
"Since the system is approaching from the tropics, it will bring warm, moist tropical air with it, leading to higher temperatures, especially overnight."
