At least it will be warm! Humid, wet weather to hit North Island, West Coast

Northland and Auckland are in for some wet weather today as a band of rain moves down from the tropics. Photo / Andrew Stone

Northland and Auckland are set to be hit with the first of a few rain bands descending on the country from the tropics as the North Island melts in sticky, humid weather.

And the warm temperatures are not expected to ease too much over the next couple of days, however the eastern coast of the South Island, Otago and Southland are likely to sidestep the worst of what's to come.

MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said at the moment Taranaki was getting hit by a band of rain that was heading south at a decent pace and set to hit the capital in a few hours.

It will then move on to Buller and Westland, where weather watches are currently in place due to a "significant" amount of rain expected to fall.

Later today the weather watches could be upgraded to warnings - where more than 50mls of rain will fall, he said.

The rest of the North Island is expected to get scattered showers today.

"It's still pretty humid through there, it will be kind of that on and off again precipitation. Still a bit gross and muggy."

"At the moment in Northland and Auckland, there's a small band of showers approaching. It's not as dramatic as over the northern and western parts of the South island but there will be a few showers there for the rest of the day.

"There's a lot of moisture in the atmosphere at the moment and making everything quite muggy."

It will be nicer tomorrow but there would still be the chance of a shower. By Thursday, the rain would be back thanks to another system coming down from the tropics again.

As for temperatures, the eastern areas of both islands would be peaking from mid to late 20s.

Canterbury and parts of Otago should be in for 26 and 27 degrees tomorrow and Thursday, while Gisborne and Hawke's Bay would be around 23 and 24 degrees.

Later on Thursday and into Friday, the weather will get wetter and slightly cooler with temperatures hitting low 20s and late teens.

Wellington would be in for a wet day today thanks to the rain band moving down from Taranaki.

However, Southland and Fiordland would be cloudy but otherwise mild over the next couple of days.

The risk of thunderstorms for Northland and Auckland was still being assessed with forecasters due to confirm that later this morning.

WET AND WARM

Auckland: Tuesday 22C, Wednesday 22C
Hamilton: Tuesday 22C, Wednesday 23C
Tauranga: Tuesday 20C, Wednesday 21C
Wellington: Tuesday 18C, Wednesday 19C
Christchurch: Tuesday 14C, Wednesday 25C
Dunedin: Tuesday 19C, Wednesday 23C