A large cold front is this afternoon moving into the North Island with rain spreading into all western areas from Northland as far south as Nelson in the South Island.

The front is slow moving and on top of recent heavy rain could cause localised surface flooding.

The heaviest rain is predicted to move in after dark tonight.

As of 3:30pm the bulk of the rain remains offshore between Taranaki and the Far North with only Taranaki and parts of the upper South Island seeing heavy rain.  Just a few light showers are in Northland and are currently approaching Auckland from the north.

Meanwhile the South Island continues its run of sunny, cold, weather under high air pressure.

Frontpage image / Chris Gin