Rain batters the Bay - a look at the radar

Metservice rain radar as at 7.58am. Photo/Metservice

UPDATE 12.20pm: Heavy rain has stopped and cleared to make way for sunshine and blue skies over Tauranga.

In the 12 hours from midnight Wednesday to midday Thursday, 70-80mm of rain was predicted to fall around the Kaimai and Mamaku ranges, and 50-70mm elsewhere, Metservice reported.

An updated look at the Metservice rain radar shows the weather system moving away from the Bay of Plenty to the south-east.

Metservice rain radar at 12.13pm

EARLIER: Rain continues to batter the region this morning with it predicted to continue through to midday.

Periods of heavy rain were expected overnight in the Bay of Plenty away from the eastern ranges.

In the 12 hours from midnight Wednesday to midday Thursday, 70-80mm of rain was predicted to fall around the Kaimai and Mamaku ranges, and 50-70mm elsewhere, Metservice reported.

Metservice predicted the heaviest rain about dawn, when rainfall rates could have reached 20-25mm/hr for an hour or two.