Sunshine on the way after wild week

Much of the North Island is expected to bathe in sunshine over the next couple of days, providing some relief after the storms that caused flooding and damage. But clear skies will see the mercury drop.

As heavy rain and gale-force winds eased off yesterday, many were still counting the cost of the storm. Among them was former league international Richie Barnett whose restored caravan at Matarangi was crushed by a falling tree.

"The kids loved playing in it, and sometimes they'd sleep there when we're at the bach. It was really well looked after," he said.

"You can't replace something like that."

MetService meteorologist John Law said only the Western Bay of Plenty and Coromandel would still be experiencing heavy rain.

"There's still some heavy rain about for those parts, but it looks like it will ease off nicely [today]."

The rain band that dumped up to 190mm across the Raukumara Ranges and 205mm on the Kaimai Ranges yesterday was due to hit Auckland last night but would clear today, Mr Law said.

"[Today] will be a transition sort of day for most of the country. The forecast is for a fine day on Saturday for most of the country."

The storms left thousands of Tauranga, Coromandel and South Waikato homeowners without power. Powerco had restored power to all except 200 customers yesterday.

Vector communications manager Sandy Hodge said between 300 and 400 customers in the North Auckland region were still without power last night, down from 90,000 at the height of the storm.