Get ready to batten down the hatches.

That's the message the Thames-Coromandel District Council haa for its residents ahead of an expected 36-hour severe weather event starting from about 3am on Sunday.

Heavy rain and easterly gales were set to hit the upper North Island, MetService says, with an active front associated with a subtropical low moving south over the upper North Island during Sunday and Monday, bringing periods of heavy rain and easterly gales.

The forecaster says a heavy rain warning is in place for Coromandel Peninsula, with orange rain warnings for Northland and western Bay of Plenty.

In Auckland a heavy rain watch is in place. Strong wind watches are in place for Northland, northern Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula and eastern Waikato.

Some 200mm of rain is expected to fall across the entire Coromandel district, with gale force easterly winds gusting up to 100kph.

A short reprieve is forecast for Tuesday before stormy weather returns on Wednesday.

'Keep yourself safe,” says Thames-Coromandel mayor Len Salt, who adds the district is taking the warnings seriously and asking people to pay attention to the conditions.

The council is expecting there to be flooding in some areas and therefore road closures.

Salt says the district's roads are still vulnerable from a number of significant weather events, including Cyclone Gabrielle, that battered it between January and March.

Salt urges residents to read Civil Defence warnings carefully and avoid travel in the district if at all possible.

'We're always cautious about weather,” says Salt when asked how residents were faring.

The peninsula is vulnerable, he says, and each year it is typically hit by between five and six major weather events that compromises roads and causes localised flooding which in turn impacts people's ability to travel.

But people who travel to the peninsula are by and large aware of the potential hazards, and its residents are 'resilient”, Salt says.

After several significant weather events over summer, the district's drains and culverts had been cleared, and contingency planning had been under way in case communities were cut off again, Salt says.

'We are extraordinarily well-prepared, but at the same time we ask people be aware of the conditions and take it easy.”

Between Saturday night and Thursday up to 750mm of accumulated rainfall could strike the district, Salt says, but ultimately residents would not know their fate until it hit.

The amount of rain that would fall would depend on the speed the front was travelling and whether it had a chance to build and accumulate more rainfall over a longer period, causing more damage.

In any case, the district did not have the same level of low-lying intense housing as Auckland which caused some of its areas to be particularly vulnerable, he says.

'We take each situation as it comes.”

Thames-Coromandel mayor Len Salt has asked residents to stay indoors. Photo: Kelly Hodel/Stuff.

Civil Defence controller Garry Towler says residents should prepare and make plans if slips, falling trees, flooding, road closures and power outages impacted and isolated communities.

'Although we have had a few good weeks to dry out and get major repairs done across the roading network, the entire Coromandel Peninsula is still very fragile, and we are expecting further slips and flooding this week – some could be significant,” says Towler

The council will post regular updates on its Facebook page and Waka Kotahi and MetService will also have rolling information for residents.

André Chumko/Stuff