Large hail, strong winds, rain and thunderstorms battered the Auckland region overnight, leaving one home with a hole in the roof after reportedly being struck by lightning.
Wind gusts of up to 130km/h were recorded as 70 thunderstorms moved across the region overnight, rolling into the city around 11pm, MetService said. About 600 lightning strikes were recorded from Taranaki to Auckland, with 40 of those flashing over central Auckland and Manukau Harbour.
"So most people who live centrally would have had a wake up last night -- whether it was the thunder, lightning or the hail hitting the window," said MetService meteorologist Georgina Griffiths.
The west was also badly hit, with one Twitter user posting a photograph of 2cm sized hail stones which pounded Henderson just before midnight, while Whenuapai recorded wind gusts of 110km/h.
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"For Whenuapai, which is a very sheltered location, that really ranks up there," Ms Griffiths said.
She added: "Western places, with cold air coming in, always get hammered, and they did. The western areas got the bang, more of the thunder and lightning and hail of the thunderstorms."
Manukau Heads was hit with the strongest winds, with gusts of almost 130km/h howling through, while Auckland Airport recorded gusts of 100km/h and Waiheke Island around 120km/h.
The "impressive" thunderstorms were caused by a cold front moving into the region, Ms Griffiths said.
"This is what we call a cold pool of air coming on to the country. Cold pools are often famous for having hail and small, squat, stubby thunderstorms, where it's windy and it's cold, and you get a lot of lightning and thunder on the change.
"So people will have noticed what it feels like temperature-wise in Auckland today - back to winter for a few more hours."
Between 10pm and dawn 70 thunderstorms struck in the vicinity of Auckland, with 40 of those over the Tasman Sea, and 30 over land.
However, the worst of the stormy weather has passed, Ms Griffiths said, with today gradually settling and improving.
"The general message is it's easing, so the general watch for wind will probably go by lunchtime. A gradual improvement today," she said.
"Aucklanders will be very happy about that, they've had a bit of a rough few days."
The Fire Service said it was not called out to any serious weather-related incidents overnight, with only a couple of alarm activations in Auckland, and some minor jobs in Cambridge.
One man reported his house in East Tamaki had been struck by lightning around 2am. Tenant Jason told TV One's Breakfast programme that he heard a loud noise, followed by the house rumbling.
"I came outside to tiles everywhere and a 2 metre hole in the roof," he said.
"It was loud, I wasn't sure what was happening, and then the roof came down."
Images showed tiles had come off the roof of the property, uncovering a black plastic lining underneath.