Rains, thunderstorms likely to lash more parts of New Zealand

By Anadolu Staff

ANKARA (AA) – Rains flanked by thunderstorms are likely to lash more parts of New Zealand, the North Island in particular, on Sunday onward, the MetService said.

The weather is then expected to turn “more chaotic” with rain enveloping the whole country tomorrow as holidaymakers look to return home after the long weekend, local English daily New Zealand Herald reported.

Northland, Auckland, Waikato, and the Bay of Plenty would be the hardest hit by electrical storms and "brief, intense rainfall and strong gusts" on Sunday evening, the MetService said in a series of tweets.

This afternoon, MetService issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the Bay of Plenty and Rotorua between Sunday night and early Monday morning with rainfall of 40mm an hour.

MetService also issued "orange heavy rain" warnings for southern holiday hotspot Nelson, as well as Taranaki lasting the next two days, and issued watches for Bay of Plenty, Kapiti-Horowhenua, Tararua, Wairarapa, Marlborough and Westland.

"This satellite image over the Tasman Sea shows the strong and complex front approaching the country," it added.