Cyclone Cook easing off in Bay of Plenty region

Tauranga has seen the worst of ex-tropical Cyclone Cook, which a forecaster saying the storm is starting to ease.

Stephen Glassey, Metservice Meteorologist, said over the next hour it would ease to "almost nothing" as it moved south across the Bay of Plenty.

There were no further severe weather systems predicted over the next week.

A total of 70mm of rain had fallen in Tauranga between midnight and 6pm. The heaviest rainfall was between 5pm and 6pm when 22.8mm of rain fell.

In Whakatane 44mm of rain fell between midnight and 6pm - over the same period 46mm of rain.

Wind gusts reached 80km/h in Tauranga and 100km/h in Whakatane.

"Even though the weather was easing, there might be quite a few showers and strong winds but nothing out of the ordinary," he said.