Gisborne and the eastern Bay of Plenty are next in line for heavy rain - after the lower South Island was battered during the week.

MetService has extended its heavy rain warnings for both regions through until this evening.

Up to 250 millimetres of rain is forecast for the area north of Gisborne, and the same for Bay of Plenty east of Matata.

It has also added less severe rain watches for the area south of Gisborne down to Napier, Bay of Plenty west of Matata including Rotorua, and the Coromandel peninsula.

Forecaster Karl Loots says while Gisborne had had a break from heavy rain after a very wet summer, this is a significant amount to be expecting.

"The region has had a bit of respite from the severe weather that they had during the summer time. This is still extremely severe weather, and very heavy rainfall expected to fall particularly during the overnight period, and in the ranges as well."

He says people should stay up to date with weather warnings on the MetService website.

However, Gisborne Civil Defence controller Ben Green says their telemetry data is not showing a risk to low-lying areas from the forecast rain.

He says after a dry month, the rain will be a chance for residents to replenish their residential water tanks.

In the Bay of Plenty, the main concern is rising river levels.

Farmers in low-lying areas there were being advised to move stock to higher ground as four swollen rivers reached the first warning level.

The Whakatāne, Tauranga, Ōtara and Waioeka rivers are running high after heavy rain.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council says a dedicated flood emergency team is monitoring the situation.

Heavy rain has also fallen on the East Coast with more than 100mm of rain at Ruatoria in the past 24 hours.

MetService says the area north of Tolaga Bay could see up to 220 millimetres of rain from 9am Sunday into Monday afternoon.

Posting on Saturday night on X, NIWA forecaster Ben Noll says parts of Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and the East Cape could see one to two months' worth of rain on Sunday and Monday.

The heavy rain warning for the central North Island, including Whanganui, Taupō, and the Bay of Plenty, was lifted at 4am on Sunday.

-RNZ.