More than 1000 households remain without power in the Auckland region, as strong winds continue to whip through.

Vector said customers without power were those in areas that were difficult to access, or where network damage required extensive work.

Only 31 households in Muriwai were still without power, down from 481 households.

Four crews and two arborist crews were required to take trees out of lines and trim back other vegetation before repairs could be made. Crews continued working on outages and overnight, so long as working conditions are safe, said Vector, and their priority was to fix large outages first, then smaller area outages.

The strong winds and rain that have caused chaos in the north of the North Island are not done yet, and more bad weather is forecast across the country today.

A government issued severe weather warning remained in place for Northland, and Auckland north of the harbour bridge, and gusts of 120 km/h were possible in exposed places.

WeatherWatch said the wind was being generated by an anticyclone circling around an easterly high, which was pushing a strong north to northeast flow across the country.

As another low came in from the Tasman the whole country could expect more blustery winds, however the worst of the damaging winds was over, the forecaster said.

Auckland and eastern Waikato are set for another windy day, but the weekend looks calmer with winds set to ease over the upper North Island. 

By Sunday afternoon most of the country should have lighter winds, although gusty conditions may continue to whip through exposed areas in both the North and South Island.

Looking ahead to next week, the North Island could expect some southerly winds, rain and showers, as a large area of low pressure was to develop, WeatherWatch predicted.

The South Island could expect clear skies and heavy frosts from a high pressure system coming in from the west. 

By next weekend the bad weather would subside, and most of the country could expect more settled weather, WeatherWatch said.

– NZ Herald/Weatherwatch