Bay of Plenty and Rotorua weather: MetService issues latest heavy rain watch for Friday

More rain is on the way with weather watches issued for Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

MetService said today a front over the Tasman Sea spreads onto New Zealand this week bringing heavy rain to northern and western parts of the North and South Islands.

A heavy rain watch is in place for Bay of Plenty, including Rotorua, between 1pm Friday and 5am Saturday, and for Coromandel Peninsula and Waikato from 9am Friday to 2am Saturday.

MetService said there was moderate confidence that the rain would reach warning criteria in Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

The forecast for the rest of Wednesday and Thursday for Bay of Plenty is cloudy with a few showers before the front makes its presence known on Friday.

On Saturday, early rain clears to cloudy weather with a chance of a shower while Sunday is mostly fine with possible showers.

It comes after two weeks of similar rain watches and warnings for the region, described by one meteorologist as a “scoop” for wild weather.

Parts of Bay of Plenty received more than 100mm of rain in 24 hours last Thursday with flooding reported.