A very active front is moving across the North Island this morning delivering torrential rain and thunderstorms to those in the west.

Around 2500 lightning strikes have been picked up by the Lightning Detector at weatherwatch.co.nz, mostly to the west of the country.

Torrential rain is currently moving over parts of Taranaki, the Wanganui region and Manawatu.   Rain is also spilling over into the dry farms of Wairarapa and the front is inching slowly northwards, although Weather Watch forecasters believe it will weaken as it moves north-eastwards. 

Meanwhile it’s remaining hot and humid ahead of the front.  Auckland stayed over 20 degrees last night with the Weather Watch Centre’s humidex reporting it felt more like the late 20s – making for another restless nights sleep.

Humidity is again up around 80% with the air temperature at 23 in Auckland and 25 in the eastern Coromandel Peninsula.

But there is a cool change on the way.  Yesterday, as that front rolled through, Dunedin went from 26 to 11 in just hours.  In parts of Canterbury the temperature dropped from the low 30s to the upper teens.

Today Timaru, which reached over 30 yesterday, is currently just 12.  Dunedin and Invercargill are also only on 12 while on the West Coast it’s just 9 degrees in Milford Sound.