An "average, rainy weekend" might cause some of Rotorua's Bike Festival events to be rescheduled, but forecasters say it doesn't mean the end of summer.
Several of the festival events have already been postponed, while organisers are taking it on an event by event basis for the remaining ones - including the popular Ride the Runway scheduled for tomorrow.A call on whether it goes ahead will be made at midday tomorrow and announced on the Rotorua Bike Festival Facebook page.
MetService meteorologist Tom Adams said after a wet 24 hours to 9am today when 50.6ml of rain fell in Rotorua, more wet weather and potential thunderstorms were expected today and tomorrow.
He said the weekend was likely to remain grey and drizzly with the risk of heavy, thunder falls easing tomorrow afternoon before a "resurgence" Sunday morning.
However Mr Adams said it wasn't the last of summer and people could still look forward to "plenty of prolonged periods of sun".
Rotorua Bike Festival director Megan Dimozantos said because last year's festival was affected by weather, they were more prepared this time and there were contingency plans.
Tonight's events had been postponed, with the Agroventures Freestyle AirBag Big Air Comp final heats and finals taking place next Friday, depending on weather.
She said Stars, Spokes and Tent Poles would probably take place in late February or early March with a date yet to be set.
Thursday night's Dipper Dash would now be in March, she said.
Ms Dimozantos said the weekend events were going ahead at the moment and any changes to that would be on the Rotorua Bike Festival Facebook Page.
Tomorrow's Helibike Rotorua 8 and 4 hour event would go ahead regardless of the weather, she said.
She said the back-up plan for Ride the Runway was to hold it on Sunday from 8am to 11am.
Sunday was looking be pretty good and tomorrow was looking like it could get good so they had their fingers crossed, she said.
Ms Dimozantos said while it was disappointing people could not currently get out and ride their bikes, the rain would be good for the dusty trails.
"It just means we get to drag the festival out for another week or two."
Meanwhile, the NZ Transport Agency is urging road users to take extra care and check the latest conditions before heading out on the roads.
Journey manager Liam Ryan said with all the rain people might see some flooding or slips and they should take extra care.
"All people who are using the roads should reduce their speed and increase their following distances.
"As conditions can change rapidly, check the latest weather and road updates before you head out."