Auckland is about to get a taste of winter with heavy rain, squally thunderstorms, hail and strong winds battering the city for the next few days.
MetService meteorologist Ngaire Wotherspoon told Newshub Auckland is in for an unpleasant evening on Tuesday and a wet start on Wednesday.
"There are a few showers around Auckland right now which has been the story for the past few days," Wotherspoon said.
"We are expecting rain to develop this evening so it will be a lot more widespread, it could be quite heavy.
"We are expecting squally thunderstorms so that is quite blustery and gusty with strong winds and there is a risk of hail as well."
She added the wet weather will continue into tomorrow with strong winds expected to pick up.
"That's reflected in the strong wind watch we have. We have a risk of thunderstorms in Auckland tomorrow morning and into the afternoon and we are likely to get some more heavy rain.
"There could also be some more hail again and an emphasis on the strong wind gusts, especially in the afternoon when that strong wind watch starts.
"It's going to be a kind of unpleasant evening and day tomorrow as well in Auckland but that is looking to back off... The showers should start largely clearing," she said.
Things are looking up on Thursday with cloudy but fine weather forecast to give way to sunshine over the weekend.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday are all expected to be fine with southwesterlies with highs in the late teens and lows of 11C.
The rest of the country is also getting a taste of winter with a road snowfall warning in place for Lindis Pass (SH8) until 4pm on Wednesday morning.
There are also road snowfall warnings for overnight for the Crown Range Road and Milford Road (SH94).
Meanwhile, strong wind watches are in place until Wednesday afternoon for Coastal parts of Clutha and Dunedin from the Otago Peninsula southwards and Stewart Island and coastal parts of mainland Southland.
