Ex tropical cyclone Rene will combine with a front in the Tasman Sea bringing mostly gloomy, humid, drizzly weather to the upper and western North Island for the rest of today.

The tropics have exploded into action with 3 major cyclones in just a week.

Tropical cyclone hits Tonga. Roofs have been blown off houses, streets are flooding and trees have fallen.

Residents on Aitutaki in the Cook Islands are preparing for a second cyclone following the category three Cyclone Pat which struck the island yesterday.

New Zealand scientists will island-hop around the Pacific for the next six months.

A rice seller may have lived under the rubble of a flea market for 27 days with little more than water.

Geologists from GNS Science will spend the next six months collecting information on buildings and infrastructure in Pacific Island countries.

A man narrowly avoided being hit in the head by a falling rock at Franz Josef Glacier and his partner suffered a broken foot after jumping a barrier.