More wind and rain to come

Another spell of unsettled weather will spread across the country over the next couple of days as an active weather front moves in from the Tasman Sea.

MetService has already issued Severe Weather Warnings for Heavy rain and Strong winds for parts of the South Island for Tuesday.

Further north across parts of the North Island high pressure will hang on for another day but winds will begin to strengthen across the Lower North Island during Tuesday.

Media and communication meteorologist Daniel Corbett commented" The approaching weather system will bring some strong to severe gales across parts of Fiordland and inland parts of Southland and Otago. As well as some heavy persistent rain across Fiordland"

A period of VERY HEAVY RAIN is expected about Fiordland and southern Westland ahead of the front, starting in Fiordland Tuesday morning and southern Westland in the afternoon. 200 to 300mm of rain is expected in Fiordland, with 100 to 250mm in southern Westland. This is a substantial amount of rain over a relatively short period and therefore rivers and streams will rise rapidly and surface flooding and slips are likely.

North to northwest gales are also expected to develop over Fiordland and exposed inland parts of Southland, Otago and Canterbury overnight Monday, and are likely to become SEVERE at times during Tuesday, especially from mid-morning through to late afternoon, with gusts of 120 to 140 km/h. Winds of this strength have the potential to damage trees and powerlines as well as weaker structures and are likely to make driving hazardous, especially for tall sided vehicles and cars towing caravans. These winds should ease slightly during Tuesday evening, but especially early Wednesday morning

Northwest gales are also expected about exposed parts of Marlborough, Wellington and Wairarapa from later on Tuesday through to early afternoon Wednesday.

MetService have issued Severe Weather Warnings for Heavy rain for Fiordland. Severe weather warnings for strong winds for Fiordland, and inland Southland and Otago.

MetService have also issued a watch for Otago, Canterbury, Westland, Marlborough, Wellington and Wairarapa.