Severe thunderstorm warning issued for central North Island

Severe thunderstorms are on the way for central parts of the North Island, with MetService issuing warnings for the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions.

Scattered thunderstorms have already developed over the central North Island on Monday afternoon and are set to continue into the evening, producing localised heavy rain and hail.

MetService has also issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Bay of Plenty from 9pm Monday until midnight.

The thunderstorms were expected to be accompanied by very heavy rain and frequent lightning.

MetService is warning locals to watch for flash flooding near low-lying areas and slips.

Driving conditions are also expected to be hazardous with surface flooding and poor visibility in heavy rain.

The thunderstorms are expected to die away overnight, but further thunderstorms are possible tomorrow afternoon and evening.

Heavy rain is expected for parts of northern Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, and MetService has issued a heavy rain watch for these regions.

There are watches in place for Tairāwhiti south of Tokomaru Bay between 3pm on Tuesday and 7am on Wednesday and for Hawke’s Bay north of Napier from 3pm on Tuesday to 5am on Wednesday.