Aucklanders are being warned of heavy rain and thunderstorms this afternoon, and are being asked to get their households ready.

Auckland Emergency Management tweeted: “Clean out gutters and drains to reduce the risk of them overflowing.”

MetService says heavy showers and possible thunderstorms were developing during this afternoon and early evening for western Auckland and Northland.

In a tweet, the service is urging people to stay up to date with the MetService rain radar.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown yesterday visited West Auckland, which was hard hit by the recent floods and cyclone.

“Muriwai residents were among those hardest hit by Cyclone Gabrielle, with a devastating slip claiming the lives of two firefighters,” Brown tweeted.

“Yesterday, I was able to visit Muriwai Chief Fire Officer Phelan Pirrie and pay my respects to him in person.”

Dave van Zwanenberg and Craig Stevens were the two firefighters killed in a landslide during the cyclone.

Hundreds farewelled van Zwanenberg last Wednesday, while the funeral for Stevens will be held this Wednesday.

There are low risks in some areas today, the service said but risk of thunderstorms and localised downpours over parts of the country increases tomorrow.

Meteorologists are closely monitoring a weather system near Fiji that has the potential to turn into another tropical cyclone.

But MetService said it is too early to know whether that would happen, and if New Zealand will be affected.

“There is a tropical low, 8F is the technical name at the moment, that was analysed this morning to the north of Fiji,” said meteorologist Ciaran Doolin.

“There is a low risk today of it forming a tropical cyclone.”

That risk would pick up to “moderate” in the coming days, though.

There was also another low over the Coral Sea, which Doolin described as “poorly organised at the moment” which also had a chance of turning into a tropical cyclone. It would move towards Vanuatu early next week.

But it was still too far off to make solid predictions on either weather system, and their movements.

“We’re talking quite long range now for a system that’s not even being called a tropical cyclone.

“The really long-range projections at the moment have this system kind of moving east of the country a bit, quite far east ... but we need to emphasise a lot of uncertainty. Over the next several days we will have a lot more certainty.”

What was of more immediate concern to New Zealanders was a band of possibly heavy rain moving across the eastern parts of the North Island on Monday and Tuesday.

“That’s probably going to be more significant as far as most people are concerned,” he said.

The flood-ravaged areas of Auckland and Hawke’s Bay, along with the Bay of Plenty, were at low risk of heavy rain, while Gisborne and the Coromandel were at moderate risk of heavy rain, he said.

A “band of moisture” was currently sitting offshore but easterly flows would push that across the east and north areas of the North Island.

“That’s probably the more immediate thing to look out for.”

Meanwhile, the South Island could expect good weather for the next few days, with rain midweek. The West Coast is expected to take the brunt of the weather.

About that time the weather is expected to ease for the North Island, and in the meantime, Wellington was “neither going to be the worst off nor the best off”.

Weather for the week ahead

Doolin said it would be a bit of a “seesaw” across the country next week, with sunshine for the south and rain for the north over Monday and Tuesday, then vice versa.

There was a moderate risk of heavy rain in the Coromandel and Gisborne areas around Monday and Tuesday, and low risk of heavy rain for Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Hawke’s Bay.

Doolin said there was an easterly flow pushing the band of rain across the northeastern parts of the country.”

That’s probably the more immediate thing to look out for for the North Island,” he said.

Meanwhile, the South Island was “continuing to see largely pretty nice weather” and that was going to carry on for the early part of the week.

“However, they are going to see, in sort of the middle of next week, a front push across them, which means conditions are going to deteriorate for them.”

The West Coast was most likely to be affected, he said.

The North Island weather will start to improve at that time.

“It’s kind of a bit of a seesaw going on.”

Wellington will experience a little bit of everything, he said.