Thunder, lightning and rain in the Bay of Plenty and more wild weather to come

There were 22 lightning strikes in the Bay of Plenty between midnight and 7am. Photo / File

You may have been woken by the rain or thunder this morning, but the cold might be keeping you on your toes later this week.

The Bay of Plenty region was pelted by between 10mm and 20mm of rain last night between midnight and 7am.

In that same time period, Te Puke had 16.2mm and Rotorua had 16.4mm.

And if the rain did not wake you, the thunder may have, particularly in the north of the region with 22 lightning strikes recorded.

Although most of the strikes were offshore, there was one recorded between Te Puke and Tauranga, one more northeast of Lake Rotorua and several to the west of Auckland.

Niwa meteorologist Ben Noll said while most of the heavy rain has moved on, there will be lingering, scattered showers throughout today across the Bay of Plenty.

"These will be brief and passing and won't define the day," he said, saying there was also a chance of sun breaking through as well.

Tomorrow

Noll said there was also a chance of showers tomorrow afternoon and the air will be noticeably cooler with gustier winds and a cold front. There is a chance of lightning.

Later this week

This will set the scene for the cool but dry day expected for Thursday.

Friday would be a different story, though, with rain expected at night and strong winds between 60-70km/h in Tauranga and Te Puke, and between 80-90km/h in the Kaimai area.

But Noll said although the winds would be strong, it would not be as bad as further west in the Waikato and Auckland area. There was also a chance of lightning.

With the cooler air, there was also an "off chance" there could be hail in some areas.