After a beautiful sunrise across much of Aotearoa today, MetService has issued an Orange Heavy Rain Warning for Tairāwhiti-Gisborne, along with Heavy Rain Watches for Northland, Great Barrier Island and Hawke's Bay.

'Low pressure rolls down near the northeast of the North Island over the next few days. There is still uncertainty of the exact path of the low centre, however there is the risk of heavy rain and strong winds for parts of the North Island, mostly in northern and eastern areas, along with large swells for the eastern coast,” says MetService meteorologist Andrew James.

Rain is already falling in Northland and Great Barrier Island.

Gisborne's rain starts overnight Thursday and then Hawke's Bay gets going on Friday morning. T

he Warning for Tairāwhiti-Gisborne remains in place through to 9pm Saturday, with rain totals of 70-120mm currently expected, but there is uncertainty with rainfall amounts, and with when the heaviest rain will occur.

'We are expecting heavy rain, but nowhere near as much rain as what occurred during Cyclone Gabrielle, however it's probably the most rain for the region since the mid-February event.”

With the vulnerability of north-eastern parts of the North Island, this rain could cause significant issues.

Get prepared ahead of the long weekend by clearing drains and gutters and also keep up to date with the latest forecasts and severe weather warnings at metservice.com.

Image: MetService.