Northland in for a wet and windy Thursday

People enjoy the sun and surf at Langs Beach, during better weather between Christmas and New Year. Photo/Michael Cunningham

A king tide and strong winds could combine to create coastal flooding on Northland's east coast tomorrow.It could be an inside day for Northlanders with heavy rain and strong winds set to batter the region before easing off over the weekend.

MetService meteorologist April Clark said a low developing rapidly to the north of the country tomorrowand the accompanying northeasterly winds would bring warm moist air to Northland.

That means rain - which will develop tomorrow morning and be heavy at times.

Those northeasterly winds will be strong, possibly gale to severe gale for a time. The winds turn southerly later in the day.

She said a king tide was expected about 10am tomorrowand at Marsden Pt full tide was usually about 1.7m but it could reach 2.9m as a result of the king tide.

Ms Clark said the king tide combined with the strong winds could cause some coastal flooding on the east coast as the waves wash up the beach higher than usual.

She expected some weather watches and warnings for severe winds and heavy rain in Northland would be issued today.Ms Clark said other parts of the country were in line to get hit with bad weather in coming days, but Thursday would be the worst of it in Northland.

On Friday the southerly winds turn westerly. There will be cloudy periods with showers which become isolated in the evening across Northland.

She said temperatures would sit in the mid to high 20s for the next few days. It's expected to reach 23C it Kaikohe, 22C in Kerikeri and 24C in Whangarei tomorrow.

Tonight should be warm, with temperatures sitting in the high teens, while it peaks at 20C in Whangarei.

Saturday is similar to Friday with cloudy periods and isolated showers which clear later in the day.

Sunday is mainly fine with the southwesterly winds dying out just as a majority of people head back to work.