Torrential rain has moved back in to Auckland tonight and MetService has extended it’s heavy rain warning which originally ended at midnight until the early hours of Saturday, as late as 4am.

The warnings say another 30 to 50mm is possible.   There are reports that rivers are running high in some suburbs and surface flooding is causing some issues.

Do you have any reports to share with other Aucklanders?  Post a comment at the end of this story.

Slips have caused major headaches for motorists on State Highway 1 near Puhoi with the northbound lane closing around 5pm.  It was expected to be open again by 6pm.

The latest rain radar clearly shows more torrential rain moving in between Whangaparaoa and Coromandel Peninsula.  WeatherWatch.co.nz believes the chances of thunderstorms this evening is now “low” as the air temperature has fallen.  However MetService is maintaining a watch for sever thunderstorms over the city until tomorrow morning while conditions remain unstable.

A heavy rain warning remains in place for the nation’s largest city as a system described as “the perfect storm” by head weather analyst Philip Duncan sets in for the evening.  “This afternoon we saw the merging of a severe thunderstorm band to the north west of the city with a stalled band of torrential rain to the north east.  This evening Auckland is experiencing a deluge and there is no immediate sign of a let up” says Mr Duncan.

Flooding in Helensville today caused by a severe thunderstorm.  Image / Simon Williams, WeatherWatch.co.nz

The torrential rain has already caused surface flooding on major highways and motorways and with conditions expected to only get worse this evening more flooding is likely.  “There is a significantly high risk of flooding in some parts of Auckland tonight, across roads, in buildings and in flood prone areas.  This is a rare set up over Auckland with two aggressive systems merging”.

Auckland’s southern motorway was a crawl this afternoon and the nor’western motorway has lit up signs advising motorists of surface water.

Reports to WeatherWatch.co.nz say that a number of areas around Auckland have received up to 40mm in just 60 minutes this afternoon, suggesting that perhaps rainfall could easily exceed the 100mm predicted by MetService in some areas.

The MetService rain warning is in force until midnight tonight however heavy rain is predicted by WeatherWatch.co.nz right through Saturday morning, when conditions will finally ease.

As of 5pm lightning had eased across the North Island.

Let us know what conditions are like where you are – post a comment below!