Gale force winds expected for Hawke's Bay south of Hastings

Hold onto your hats and your trampolines. Photo / File

Hold on to your hats and your trampolines - those south of Hastings are being warned about potential gale force winds on Friday.

MetService has issued a severe weather watch for central and southern parts of the country from late Friday afternoon until early Saturday morning.

Meteorologist Stephen Glassey said areas south of Hastings should expect "quite a windy period over the next few days".

"There is a strong wind watch in place for Hawke's Bay south of Hastings, Tararua District and Wairarapa north of Masterton from 3pm tomorrow to 9am on Saturday.

"Westerly winds may approach severe gale in exposed places during this time. It is quite possible for some places to get gale force winds of 63km/h or more.

"Napier and Hastings will not be included in the watch but strong winds, with a mean speed of 40km/h, can still be expected."

An active cold front is forecast to move quickly eastwards across New Zealand on Friday bringing about a change to strong southwesterlies, while an associated deep low also moves eastwards to the south of the South Island during Friday.

Severe west to southwest gales are possible for parts of central and southern New Zealand on Friday.

The strongest winds are expected to be in the far south near the centre of the low, and strong wind warnings are now in force for Fiordland, Southland and Otago.