It’s going to be a rough night tonight for many as a cold southerly spreads over the country due to a deep low crossing central New Zealand.

The low is currently spiralling over Cook Strait and is delivering heavy rain around Wellington causing commuter chaos this evening.  Heavy rain is falling in both Lower Hutt and the Kapiti Coast.

Strong winds, gusting to 100km/h are continuing to buffet Auckland and the Far North with heavy showers spreading in from Taranaki to Auckland.  “The showers are showing signs of easing but they’ll continue for the rest of tonight” says head weather analyst Philip Duncan.

The low is expected to depart New Zealand overnight but leave a strong and much colder air flow over the country for several days ahead.  “Cold south easterlies have moved into Dunedin and sleet is quite possible tonight with snow in the ranges lowering to just a few hundred metres”.

Mr Duncan says cold air will swamp all of New Zealand during Thursday and warns the wind chill could be harsh to new born animals, especially in the South Island.

Now the Weather Watch Centre is already turning it’s attention to the next potential storm, a deep low predicted to develop in the sub-tropics and deepen rapidly off the Gisborne coast.  This low could bring stronger south easterlies over the weekend coupled with heavy rain in the north and heavy snow over Central Plateau and the South Island.  

More details on this next potential storm will be issued before noon Thursday.