It’s not just the South Island getting all the focus over the next 24 hours but also western and northern parts of the North Island are being advised to batten down the hatches.

A northerly is building in the Tasman sea and is set to cover much of the north tomorrow with strong to gale force northerlies and rain with some localised heavy falls and thunderstorms also a possibility.

Squalls aren’t out of the picture either in isolated and exposed western areas and look likely to be at their most intense later tomorrow or overnight tomorrow night.

Wednesday should see a slow lessening of the wind however some heavy falls of rain are likely to remain as the flow tilts more northwesterly.

Gisborne to Wairarapa are likely to see similar gusts of wind pick up from the northwest over the next 24 to 48 hours however rain is expected to be sporadic.

Winds over  offshore waters around the North Island will be severe in peak gusts and swells will increase rapidly as of tomorrow morning as the northerly cranks into gear.

The cold conditions over the south from tomorrow aren’t likely to have the same impact later in the week over the north however there’s a definite cooling off period likely later in the week.