Auckland's wild weather topples trees and causes flooding

Wild weather struck Auckland on Tuesday night, toppling trees and causing motorway flooding.

And a severe weather warning was issued overnight, with heavy rain and northeasterly gales forecast to lash parts of the North Island.

Wind gusts reached up to 110km/h in the Hauraki Gulf and up to 65km/h at the Harbour Bridge on Tuesday night.

There were reports of trees falling in Muriwai Rd in West Auckland and flooding on the right lane just after the Upper Harbour Highway on-ramp, closing the road. The road has has been reopened, but some surface water remained.

Sandbags were also put across parts of the Tamaki Drive waterfront to stop the ocean spilling onto the road at high tide.

The New Zealand Transport Agency has warned Auckland motorists to take care and drive to the conditions in the wild weather.

MetService meteorologist Cameron Coutts said the worst of the strong winds and heavy rain would ease for Auckland overnight.

The rain would spread over the upper half of the North Island before spreading to the rest of the North Island on Wednesday morning, he said

Rain was also set to hit the north and west of the South Island on Wednesday.

"It's looking reasonably wet across much of the country [on Wednesday], with just the far south of the South Island remaining dry."

More rain was expected on Thursday around most of the county.

Meanwhile a heavy rain watch is in place for the Coromandel until 7am on Wednesday. Warnings are also in place for the Bay of Plenty east of Whakatane and Gisborne until this afternoon.

Vector head of network field services Marko Simunac said Vector has been monitoring the weather and has crews ready to respond to any power outages.

"At this stage we have not seen much of an impact but during these types of weather events there is an increased risk of trees coming into contact with power lines and cars colliding with power poles in the wet."

A severe weather warning issued at 8.38pm on Tuesday warned heavy rain and northeasterly gales could lash parts of the North Island.

Heavy rain and northeasterly gales affecting northern parts of the North Island were forecast on Wednesday.

"A heavy rain warning is in force for western Bay of Plenty and Gisborne north of Ruatoria, and a heavy rain watch is in force for eastern Bay of Plenty,Coromandel Peninsula and Auckland. Also note, due to higher than normal tides over the next few days, there is a
possibility of coastal inundation in areas exposed to strong northeast winds.

"People are advised to keep up to date with the latest forecasts in case any updates are made to the Watches or Warnings, or further areas are added."