Heavy rain and hail set for Northland

Umbrellas will be needed in Northland today and tomorrow with heavy rain and hailstones likely

Thunder, giant hail and heavy rain is expected to pummel Northland for the next two days as a warning is issued for northern New Zealand.

The next 36 hours are going to be some of the wettest and wildest weather the north has had this winter with up to 120mm of rain expected to fall on Northland, northern Auckland and Great Barrier Island and hail big enough to damage crops and light structures, the MetService says.

The heavy rain about Great Barrier Island and the south of Northland is likely to
ease Wednesday evening.

Coromandel is set to be drenched with a whopping 160 mm of rain expected to fall in from 6pm tonight until midnight tomorrow.

MetService said some severe thunderstorms would sweep across the north as continuous bands of rain started to fan over regions today. In some areas up to 40mm of rain was expected as well as large hail measuring 20mm in diameter.

MetService warned the hail was expected to be so big crops and light-weight structures could end up damaged.

There was also likely to be flash flooding.