Cars at risk of being washed into Waikato River at Huntly

Flooding in the Waikato township of Huntly is isolated to a few roads near the Waikato River, the Fire Service says.

There is flooding on Riverview Rd, Great South Rd, and on Mary Street.

A slip hit a laundry, carport and car at one property on Riverview Road, where the water is about a foot deep and there were concerns cars would wash away.

An isolated downpour hit the area, and it was now a case of assisting residents and waiting for the water to recede, a Fire Service spokesman said.

The Waikato River near Huntly. Photo: Twitter

He was not aware of any evacuations of people and said about half a dozen properties were affected.

Police say the local council is "attending a flooding event"

A slip has taken out a laundry, carport and car at one property on Riverview Road, where the water is about a foot deep.

Motorists intending to use Riverview Rd, Huntly should be aware that diversions are in place.

Scenes of flooding at Riverview Rd in Huntly. Photo: Supplied

Police say that at the northern end of Riverview Rd, traffic is being diverted back to SH1.

At the southern end, at Ngaruawahia, there’s a diversion in place to run traffic back onto SH1.

Meanwhile one Huntly resident, Tamzin Smith, told One News that she spotted an unusual tornado-like cloud hovering over the area today just after 4pm.

"These pictures where taken at around 4.20 this afternoon out the back of Huntly, Ruawaro to be exact. We aren't sure what it is - looks like tornado type clouds," she said.

The tornado-like cloud. Photo: Tamzin Smith

The cloud lasted for about 15 minutes.

"Right after this tornado cloud disappeared we got some huge rain drops," Smith added.

Earlier rain and thunderstorms caused some surface flooding and power outages in Auckland.

The Fire Service said the worst-hit Auckland area was East Coast Bays.

A slip at Waiwera also forced the closure of Waiwera Road

Weatherwatch.co.nz issued an alert for the Upper North Island on Sunday, predicting there would be localised flooding from slow moving, intense downpours.

Other North Island areas, including Bay of Plenty, Coromandel Peninsula, East Cape and Central Plateau also faced a drenching.

NZTA said there were several small slips on SH25 between Thames and Coromandel but all were passable.

The MetService earlier said a front moving eastwards across New Zealand on Sunday would bring rain to Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Waitomo, Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty.

Many of these regions were saturated during recent days, so surface flooding and slips were possible.

– With NZN