An expected weekend of rain and thunderstorms across New Zealand has forced MetService to issue a raft of severe weather warnings.
As of Saturday morning, heavy rain warnings were in place for parts of Bay of Plenty and Gisborne, the Tasman District, and Mt Taranaki.
MetService said people should plan for possible landslides and flooding in Tasman about and northwest of Motueka, Bay of Plenty east of Kawerau, and Gisborne north of Ruatoria, as streams and rivers "may rise rapidly".
Elsewhere, heavy rain and possible thunderstorms were also expected in Te Tai Tokerau north of Whangārei, Waikato including Coromandel and north Taranaki from Saturday night until early Sunday afternoon-evening. Those areas were under heavy rain watches.
"On Sunday and Monday as the central low pressure moves through it will bring more instability - which means areas of rain and showers that go beyond what is forecast. This is quite normal when low pressure is around," WeatherWatch said.
"[The] heaviest rain looks to be in the north and west of both main islands, but this will still be fine-tuned over the coming days."
Several areas could see more heavy rain on Monday as the band moves southeast over the upper North Island, MetService said.
"There is a moderate confidence that warnable amounts of rain will continue about western Bay of Plenty into Monday, with a low confidence about northwestern Tasman," the forecaster's severe weather outlook said.
"Later on Monday, there is a low confidence of warnable amounts of rain spreading over Northland, Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula, with a low risk of severe gale easterlies."
