It’s been a hot, humid, night for many and today it remains humid in the north.

The heat led to over 1200 lightning strikes off the Taranaki to Auckland west coast around sunrise this morning.  The thunderstorms moved into Taranaki mostly and have now almost completely eased.

A period of heavy showers is about to move in to Auckland, there remains a low risk of a rumble of thunder says WeatherWatch.co.nz.

However there is still the possibility of afternoon thunderstorms in the upper North Island.  MetService has a thunderstorm watch, warning there’s a high risk of thunderstorms from about southern Hawkes Bay and Central Plateau northwards, with a high risk of severe thunderstorms over inland Bay of Plenty to Taupo to Wairoa in the east.  This may affect people involved in Taupo’s Ironman.

Downpours may be heavy enough to cause flash or surface flooding.

You can track the thunderstorms using the free and live Lightning Detector here.