UPDATED
Heavy rain has set in across the upper North Island causing traffic mayhem in Auckland earlier this morning.

Commuters were stuck in much heavier than usual traffic with numerous motorists complaining to WeatherWatch.co.nz that their trips took twice as long.

Heavy rain has “set in for the day” in Auckland and other northern centres according to head weather analyst Philip Duncan.  “The band of rain will continue to feed in to Auckland and Waikato and other northern and western North Island regions for the rest of today”.

He says the heavy rain may well cause surface flooding on roads and highways.

MetService currently has 7 rain warnings for Waikato, Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, Taupo, Tongariro, Taihape and Taranaki.  A warning for Taumarunui has been lifted.

Up to 120mm of rain is expected with heaviest falls this afternoon and evening.

Mr Duncan says visibility is extremely low in Auckland.  “We often see Sky Tower disappearing in to the clouds but it’s not so often that the cloud covers Ponsonby and the North Shore too….clouds are barely above sea level this morning in Auckland”.  A quote from earlier this morning.  This afternoon clouds have lifted revealing most suburbs.

Humid, wet, conditions will remain in Auckland and northern New Zealand for the next few days however tomorrow is expected to be drier.

The rain is all part of a system dubbed the “7 day low” by WeatherWatch.co.nz.