Auckland and Northland motorists should take extra care when heading on their morning commute due to stormy weather overnight, MetService says.

“Places that saw really heavy rain earlier in the week should watch out for some slips and water pooling,” said MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris.

“People commuting should take it easy on the roads and drive carefully.”

This warning comes after Thursday’s wild weather which brought road slips, heavy rain, and gales to much of the North Island.

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On Friday, a heavy rain watch remains in place for Auckland and the Coromandel until 4am, and a strong wind watch for both regions was expected to be in place until 9am.

Auckland motorists should be prepared for delays over the Harbour Bridge on Friday morning, as strong winds hit the road.

“High sided vehicles and motorcyclists are advised to use SH16 and SH18 as an alternate route,” Waka Kotahi NZTA said.

Northlanders should expect the heavy rain to clear around 3am, whereas Gisborne may have to wait until 9am.

The weather should then ease to isolated showers across most of the North Island.

However, Desert Rd is forecast to be hit with snow.

“People getting up around dawn are in for a clearer day than Thursday. The majority of the heavy rainfall will be during the night,” Ferris said.

Thursday’s storm was the second weather system to sweep through New Zealand this week.

On Tuesday, most of the country was hit by a storm that closed highways, flooded paddocks and brought snow to some parts of the South Island.

Despite the wet week, most areas of New Zealand should expect a relatively fine weekend, with a few showers on Saturday morning across the South Island.