Thunder and hailstorms are forecast for Auckland and the upper North Island this morning, but the showers expected around the country should ease towards the evening. 

It comes after a wild night yesterday, with thousands of lightning strikes recorded off the coast and heavy rain and strong gusts about Waikato and Taranaki. 

For today, MetService said there was a risk moderate risk of thunderstorms in Waitomo, Waikato, Auckland and Northland later this morning. 

Localised heavy rain of up to 15mm an hour and hailstones up to 15mm in diameter were possible in these areas, MetService said. 

Auckland’s high temperature for Wednesday was forecast to reach 17C and drop to 13C overnight tonight. 

Thursday and Friday in Auckland were tipped to have partly cloudy conditions with some showers, warming slightly to 20C. 

MetService has forecast Christchurch as the only main centre to dodge the rain today, with a fine Wednesday and Thursday predicted to hit 21C tomorrow, up from 16C today. 

Dunedin is also an outlier today, seeing an inverse pattern with a mainly fine morning turning rainy in the afternoon. The city should hit 18C and 17C tomorrow when heavier rain is expected to set in. 

Wellington, meanwhile, will likely see the heaviest rain of any main centres today, with the city expected to only reach 14C. 

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) and MetService credited the wet weather to a cold front pushing over the country. The front, coming from the Tasman Sea, was expected to come onshore yesterday night. 

MetService said another band of showers was tracking over the North Island today and clearing early evening. 

MetService forecaster Luis Fernandes earlier said that while wet weather was likely to plague much of New Zealand for the rest of the week, temperatures would begin to slowly warm. 

“The South Island will see temperatures bouncing back into the mid to high teens as the week goes on. 

“The North Island would see temperatures climbing but remaining more or less static for a couple of days.” 

Looking further ahead, forecasters have been signposting the return of a La Nina summer for New Zealand, with the likelihood of wet and muggy weather around the upper north. 

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.