Storms are rolling in as Aotearoa’s unsettled summer continues, with much of the North Island sitting beneath a severe thunderstorm watch today.

MetService warned on Twitter there are “plenty” of storms popping up around the country already and later this afternoon looks set to be even more intense.

The heavy rain forced vehicles on the Waikato Expressway to pull over due to a lack of visibility.

The warning stretches from Hamilton to Wellington, and will last until 9pm tonight. MetService reports the unsettled conditions are the result of cool temperatures at upper levels and warm humid conditions near the surface, which are expected to bring convective conditions to much of the North Island.

The bottom half of the North Island is under a heavy rain warning as thunderstorms bear down this afternoon. Photo / John Stone

There is also a heavy rain warning for Hawke’s Bay south of Napier, the Tararua District, and Wairarapa north of Featherston which is in place until 2am on Wednesday.

MetService forecasts show a moderate chance of severe thunderstorms from Waikato to Taranaki and the Wairarapa - these could cause rainfall rates of up to 45mm per hour, which would increase the risk of flash floods and make driving hazardous.

Wellington Regional Emergency Management is warning people to drive carefully this afternoon, saying the storms could bring “surface, flash flooding about streams, gullies and urban areas, and make driving conditions extremely hazardous”.

The chaotic conditions follow on from a day of torrential rain in Auckland and parts of Whangārei.

MetService forecaster Gerard Bellam said Water St in downtown Whangārei received 28.2mm of rainfall in a short burst around 4pm yesterday.

A woman was in her Woodhill home when all of a sudden rain started pelting the wall 3m away from the windows it was pouring in through.

“It literally went horizontal,” she said.