Another soaking on the way, with most of the North Island set to get wet

Thursday, 4 June 2026

A heavy rain watch is in place for Taranaki north of Eltham from 10pm Thursday until 8pm Friday. MetService warns there is a high chance this will be upgraded to an orange heavy rain warning. Keep up to date with the latest weather forecast.

A brief break in the weather is about all New Zealand is getting before the next round of rain arrives.

MetService is warning another active front will move onto the country from Thursday, spreading rain across much of the South Island before engulfing large parts of the North Island by Friday.

Thunderstorms are also expected in western areas, while forecasters say more heavy rain watches and warnings could be issued over the next 24 hours.

The heavy rain will become confined to the east of the Bay of Plenty and northern Gisborne this afternoon – moving off at night.

The area causing the most concern is Taranaki, where a heavy rain watch has been issued for areas north of Eltham from 10pm Thursday until Friday evening.

MetService meteorologist Braydon White said there was a high chance the watch would be upgraded to a warning.

“We are expecting a front to become somewhat slow moving around the Taranaki area. And so we do have a heavy rain watch out for Taranaki north of Eltham.”

White said Wednesday’s calmer conditions were only a brief pause between weather systems.

The next system arrives in the west of the South Island on Thursday morning before spreading north.

“Pretty quickly we get another chunk of rain pushing into the west of the country. That is potentially going to bring with it a fair amount of heavy rain and thunderstorms and strong winds.”

An active front will move onto the country from Thursday.

By Friday, rain is expected to cover most of the country. The eastern South Island is likely to be the main exception, sheltered from the heaviest falls.

White said forecasters were still refining rainfall estimates, meaning further watches and warnings remained possible.

“There’s also the potential for more heavy rain watches or warnings to be issued.”

After the rain clears, a colder southerly is expected to push north over the weekend, bringing a more winter-like feel.

“As we head through later Saturday and Sunday, we do get a colder southerly change pushing up the country. And it’ll start to drop the temperatures down to be a bit more of a noticeably winter feel.”

While temperatures are expected to remain close to average for June, many parts of the country look set for a wet end to the working week.