Weather: Gales, heavy rain for much of North Island

Photo / Dean Purcell

Gales and heavy rain are set to strike much of the North Island and the upper South Island over the weekend, forecasters warn.

Metservice said a deep low over the Tasman Sea will lie just west of central New Zealand by midnight on Saturday.

It has issued severe weather warnings for Bay of Plenty, Rotorua and Nelson and severe weather watches for Northland, Auckland and Taranaki.

Northeast winds should rise to gale force in exposed parts of Northland and Auckland today, Metservice said.

Those winds are expected to spread to Taranaki, Nelson and Buller by Saturday morning - with gusts possibly causing damage to property, it said.

"At this stage forecasters expect maximum gusts of 100 or 110 km/h... they may still present a hazard to people driving high sided vehicles or motorcycles and cause some damage to trees and unsecured property."

Heavy rain warnings are in place for Bay of Plenty and Nelson.

- NZ Herald staff