Gale force winds continue to affect the Far North and eastern parts of coastal Northland and Auckland this afternoon as low pressure in the Tasman Sea competes with a high to the east of the country.   Winds are gusting to 100km/h at Cape Reinga and 70km/h around Auckland.

Windy conditions are affecting many parts of the country today on the fringes of the large high to the east with only Canterbury (south of Banks Peninsula), Otago and Southland truly calm.  So what’s the outlook for the rest of the week?

Well there isn’t a major change in the next 24 hours.  Windy conditions are likely to remain firmly in place as the high fights with the lows in the Tasman Sea.  On Wednesday the air pressure over the Tasman Sea will ‘fill in’ killing off the lows that remain there today.

However the winds aren’t likely to die out.  The high to the east will hardly move and continue to strengthen while another low is likely to form north of New Zealand.

This means windier weather especially in the north and north east of the country.   The low coming down from the sub-tropics has a chance of bringing heavy rain to places like Northland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne – and we’ll be keeping a close eye on it.