Winds and rain took hold over parts of the nation overnight and the deep depression hasn’t quite finished its business yet with the promise of further high winds in central parts.

Yesterday the MetService issued the first of the warnings and overnight some thunderstorms or heavy downpours were also picked up by some writing into the WeatherWatch.co.nz facebook site.

One person said that Auckland was hit hard at 1.15am this morning by an active rain band and others mentioned that Te Awamutu and Stratford also had either strong winds or heavy rain.
Further south and Juliet Oates mentioned that Greymouth had some action in the middle of the night which woke her in the wee hours of this morning.

Temperatures are warm over parts of the eastern flank of the country today as the nor’ westers pick up especially as they blow down on the eastern side of the central North Island.

The weekend looks more promising for some with longer and sunny spells settling in with less wind but not all areas will escape some rain or showers.

There’s potential for Sunday to turn out quite wintry in the far south with blustery and chilly sou’ westers picking up bringing with them some heavy showers and some hail is also on the cards.
Temperatures are likely to break into double figures but the windchill could make it feel much colder.

“We’re watching to see what develops with this outbreak later in the weekend across the deep south ” says weather analyst Richard Green. “This could be a bit of a shock to the system after all the recent heat over the lower part of the Mainland but should only be shortlived as it looks warm again next week” he says.” If the hail does arrive, that’s the biggest concern with the stone fruit in Central Otago and at the moment it’s a 50/50 call whether this cold change moves inland that far with the wintry mix of rain and hail “.