Wind and rain continues to batter upper North Island as Gisborne gets ready for rain

Wind rain and weather looking across Kohimarama beach towards St Helier's at Queen's birthday weekend. Photo / Alex Burton

A blustery day is on the cards for the upper North Island and East Coast as wild weather continues to hammer it.

A strong wind warning is in place for Northland today, with southeast gales gusting 120km/h in exposed places, especially along the east coast.

It follows a windy night for the area, with gusts reaching over 80 km/h in some places.

MetService is warning the continued strong wind gusts could damage trees, powerlines and unsecured structures.

Motorists should also be on high alert as it could make driving dangerous especially for those in high-sided vehicles and motorcycles.

Strong wind watches for North Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula are in place until at least 8pm tonight.

Heavy rain is also set to drench Gisborne, with a warning in place from 1pm today until 8am tomorrow. Between 90mm and 110mm of rain is expected to fall during that time.

The worst of the rain is expected to hit the East Coast overnight and MetService is warning it could cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly.

Surface flooding and slips could also make driving conditions dangerous.

Here's the severe weather outlook covering from Tuesday to Friday. The low bringing 🌧to Northland and Coromandel hangs around the upper North Island until the middle of the week. More details at https://t.co/ePtVj8cXwp ^AJ pic.twitter.com/5hhIk10sjP

— MetService (@MetService) June 6, 2021

MetService shift meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said Gisborne followed by the Hawke's Bay would be the worst areas affected by the rain.

"The area to keep an eye for today would be the Gisborne area. We could see a period of heavier rain later on this evening."

Cloud is also hanging around Christchurch.

Makgabutlane said the weather looks set to improve for the rest of the week, but there will still be sporadic rain and showers in Northland, Auckland, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty.

It comes after heavy rain on Sunday and Monday put a dampener on Queen's Birthday weekend for holiday goers in the upper North Island.

MetService will update its warning and watches later this morning.