Relief for rain-soaked areas

The heavy rain that caused floods in the Bay of Plenty will ease today, but some areas in the North Island will still see some showers.

It will be fine in the eastern and northern parts of the North Island today, but western areas will have showers that clear later in the day, Metservice meteorologist Tom Adams said.

Heavy flooding in the Bay of Plenty caused havoc for motorist and residents yesterday.

In Whakatane's Galatea, 16.8mm of rain was recorded at 7am and another burst of rain at 2pm was recorded at 6.8mm. The heaviest rain was in the Bay of Plenty's eastern ranges, where 30mm to 50mm of rain fell between 9am to 12pm yesterday. The heavy rain in the eastern ranges caused the Whakatane River near Taneatua to swell, Mr Adams said.

Heavy rain was clearing, but western areas in the North Island, such as Waikato, Taranaki, Wanganui and the Manawatu, would see showers. There was also a chance of thunderstorms in the area before dawn, he said.

The eastern ranges in the Bay of Plenty would still get a few showers today.

"There will be more showers in the ranges and, if people are unlucky, there will be further swelling of the rivers, but naturally it's going down," he said.

Mr Adams urged drivers to take care around the area for swollen rivers and slips.

Auckland may see showers first thing this morning, but fine spells will increase in the afternoon.

Southerlies will move up the east coast of the South Island, bringing rain in Canterbury, Mr Adams said. There would also be rain in the Banks Peninsula and Southland before dawn.

Mr Adams said the weather was "looking interesting" for the weekend. "There's another system moving into the country late on Saturday."

Northern and western parts of the country would see rain start to spread, he said. "It's coming from the Tasman moving from west to east."