More downpours and areas of rain will be crossing the country after today’s windy blast of weather eases further south. A cold front is today crossing the country with gales around Wellington gusting over 115km/h in the city at times, but the worst of the winds will be easing during Thursday afternoon and evening.

Friday looks especially calm for the North Island.

Rain on Friday returns to the West Coast and spreads into parts of the North Island overnight and through Saturday with isolated heavy falls. 

This is not a storm in our view but it is quite a deep and large low pressure system capable of producing localised heavy rain.

As for Canterbury, there is *some* risk of further flooding but our latest guidance remains steady at saying rainfall totals in the recently flooded region may be as low as 10 to 40mm but the higher amounts do mean we need to continue to monitor it.

Next week sees more showers but also higher air pressure which may help calm things down a little.