A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for the central North Island tonight.
MetService said very warm afternoon temperatures and a moist unstable atmosphere is triggering scattered showers and that some of these showers are expected to develop into thunderstorms.
The severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Taupo, Hawkes Bay and Taihape.
The main risk of thunderstorms is around Taupo, eastern Taihape and Hawkes Bay.
A few of these thunderstorms may become severe, with 25mm-40mm of heavy localised rainfall in an hour.