As of late morning downpours were again rapidly forming through inland areas of both islands with thunderstorms expected to kick off from lunchtime and peak yet again into the afternoon and evening.

Deluges, thunderstorms and even hail and flooding risks are all associated with these intense but slow moving storm cells.

The key difference with today compared to previous days is the fact that there’s a high risk of downpours in the upper North Island, including Northland and Waikato and parts of Auckland.

On Thursday the north may see even more downpours.

– Images by The Weather Company (an IBM business and an official WeatherWatch.co.nz business partner)

– WeatherWatch.co.nz