Rain, thunderstorms set to hit North Island

Heavy rain looks set to his the North Island. Photo / Thinkstock

Heavy showers and thunderstorms are creeping towards Auckland and are forecast to hit later this afternoon.

MetService meteorologist Rebekah LaBar said some substantial showers were heading in from the west coast, towards the Auckland and Northland region, and down towards the Waikato and Waitomo coast.

Ms LaBar said these showers were expected to arrive later this afternoon and into this evening.

"They should hit shores in the next few hours. We have seen a few lightning strikes with that as well and there could be a thunderstorm with those. They will start to taper off tonight."

She said it was very likely Auckland city would see a thunderstorm this evening.

"Some of the lightning strikes that I am seeing right now are off the coast to the north of Whenuapai. There's also some strikes and showers north of New Plymouth, again offshore."

WeatherWatch analysts said the approaching band of heavy showers was likely to arrive in the next couple of hours.

It said the heaviest showers could contain hail and rainfall rates high enough to cause localised surface and flash flooding.

WeatherWatch said despite the forecast, it did not anticipate too many issues across Auckland. Settled weather would return by Thursday.

Ms LaBar said more showers were forecast for the Auckland area tomorrow however there were unlikely to be any thunderstorms.

She also predicted south-westerly winds.

"This will continue to bring some showers in, but mainly across the west coast," Ms LaBar said.