• Heavy rain watches in place across three locations
• Northland, Mt Taranaki and Bay of Plenty easy of Opotiki to see heavy rain
• High pressure anticyclone to bring relief Wednesday

Heavy rain watches are in place across Northland, Mt Taranaki and the Bay of Plenty east of Ōpōtiki – but almost the whole of the North Island can expect a soaking on Tuesday night.

MetService meteorologist Gerard Bellam said the central and northern regions of the North Island are under the influence of a broad trough of low pressure at the moment.

He said the heaviest rain would be seen across the three heavy rain watch areas, with rain set to lash Northland until around 11am Wednesday.

Bay of Plenty east of Ōpōtiki can expect the downpour to last until around 4am on Wednesday, while Mt Taranaki’s deluge is expected to last until around 1am on Wednesday.

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“Other areas will get some heavy rain at times, but that’s where the biggest impacts are,” Bellam said.

MetService have forecast rain for almost the entire North Island, with Gisborne and the Hawke’s Bay set for “occasional rain”.

Marlborough, Nelson, Buller, Westland and Fiordland will also see occasional rain, clearing through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

In the South Island, Canterbury, North and Central Otago are forecast to see fine spells, though cloudy.

Dunedin, Clutha and Southland will see showers, becoming confined to the south coast tomorrow with increasing fine spells elsewhere.

Chatham Islanders can expect rain tonight and a few showers tomorrow.

Bellam said relief was on the way, however, with an anticyclone – a large area of high pressure – set to sweep across the North Island on Wednesday.

“We’re seeing it clear during tomorrow morning,” he said.