Aucklanders are waking to a state of emergency on Wednesday morning after heavy rain pelted the city causing widespread flooding.
Northland, Auckland, parts of Bay of Plenty and Waikato all experienced heavy rain and thunderstorms on Tuesday causing flash flooding and traffic chaos.
Bay of Plenty is still in the firing line, with more rain expected on Wednesday morning as the front moves across the country.
MetService said a complex trough is over New Zealand and expected to move away to the east on Wednesday morning.
There were up to 15 weather warnings and watches in place on Tuesday but many of them have eased, with just 10 remaining.
Auckland's severe weather warnings and watches ended overnight, providing much-needed relief for its residents.
In an update on Wednesday morning, Auckland Emergency Management (AEM) deputy controller Rachel Kelleher said severe rainfall won't be seen again today.
"It is going to be a windy and showery day for Auckland, but these are passing showers will be brief [and] won't be bringing the same high-intensity extreme rainfalls that were seen yesterday," she told reporters.
Kelleher warned of the "odd thunderstorm" on Wednesday morning and evening.
"The main risk with these thunderstorms are the swords and gusts maybe the odd rumble of thunder and even some small hail," she said.
Wind gusts, however, could cause disruption to the Auckland Harbour Bridge as they're expected to reach up to 100km/h, Kelleher said.
"A reminder to people to keep an eye on Auckland Transport's website and social media channels to keep up to date with any change, in the event we do get wind coming up to levels that could cause disruption."
Kelleher said Aucklanders may feel a sharp change in temperature as a cold front crosses the region late in the morning.
And as the weekend approaches, Kelleher said the supercity is in for some better weather.
"That will be welcomed news, I think, to everybody."
A cold southerly change is over the South Island and is expected to bring snow to the hills and mountains, with possible heavy falls for parts of Southland, Otago and Canterbury on Wednesday.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said it received more than 300 weather-related calls for help between the hours of 8am and 6pm on Tuesday. Nineteen of those calls were from Northland and about 100 of the total calls were classed as urgent and the rest were non-urgent.
A Civil Defence emergency centre remains open in west Auckland for anyone that needs shelter or a hot drink.
The shelter is at Te Manawa (11 Kohuhu Ln, Westgate).
Auckland public transport
Public transport will begin to return to normal on Wednesday after disruptions on Tuesday following the flooding and wild weather.
"With the forecast looking much better tomorrow, we expect that the road and public transport network will be operating close to normal levels," Auckland Transport (AT) group manager metro services Darek Koper said late on Tuesday.
"There will still be work to do, with some road closures in place in places that got hit hardest by the rainfall event today and we will be working to mitigate those as soon as possible.
"However, the network overall will be operating and able to take people to work, school and to go about their daily business."
Most train services returned to schedule late on Tuesday evening and AT confirmed on Wednesday morning that all services are back on schedule.
Weather warnings and watches
There are still 10 weather warnings and watches in place for the Bay of Plenty and for southern parts of the South Island.
An orange heavy rain warning was in place for Bay of Plenty including Rotorua until 3am on Wednesday but that could ease when MetService updates its warnings later in the morning.
A heavy snow watch is in place for the northern hills of Southland north to the Waitaki River, excluding the lower-lying parts of north Otago, Dunedin and Clutha from 4pm on Wednesday until 2am on Thursday.
MetService said snow is likely above 400-500m, with heavy falls above 700m - where accumulations may approach warning criteria of greater than 10cm in six hours.
A road snowfall warning is in place for some of the South Island's most iconic roads.
The warning is in place for Lewis Pass (SH7), Arthur's Pass (SH73), Lindis Pass (SH8), Milford Road (SH94) and Crown Range Rd. The warnings are in place until at least 11pm on Wednesday for all the roads except Milford Rd, with that warning easing at 11am.
