A street is flooding at Mount Maunganui on Saturday evening.

Commons Ave, between Maunganui Road and The Mall is under water, with flooding across the whole street, onto footpaths and reaching over onto the edges of properties.

The stormwater for the road runs out through a stormwater pipe into Pilot Bay, and has been known in the past to become blocked due to sand.

Tauranga City Council says they have received a number of phone calls this evening about the flooding and are sending contractors out.

The MetService forecast heavy rain on Saturday for the Bay of Plenty region, ncluding Rotorua, and Taupo.

Periods of heavy rain with possible downpours and thunderstorms are forecast, from 8am to 11pm, today, Saturday April 20.

"Amounts may approach warning criteria and may even exceed warning amounts in localised areas," says a MetService spokesperson.

A heavy rain watch is also in place for Northland, Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato, Waitomo, which is valid for 16 hours from 4am to 8pm today.

Commons Ave flooded on Saturday night. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford.