Soggy start for school holidays

As the school holidays dawn on the country it’s bad news for citysiders fleeing to the Coromandel, Bay of Plenty or East Cape.

And it’s not much better for Aucklanders staying home.

MetService duty forecaster Sonja Farmer said most of the North Island was set for rain today, heavy in the north and east.

The national meteorological service has issued heavy rain warnings for Coromandel and Bay of Plenty from Te Puke westward, from 3am today to 6am tomorrow.

Between 100mm and 130mm of rain was expected, peaking at 10mm to 20mm per hour.

A similar “orange” warning is in place for Bay of Plenty east of Te Puke, and Gisborne north of Tolaga Bay, until 1pm today with up to 170mm expected.

The highest rates of rainfall will be in the ranges east of Whakata¯ne, meteorologists said.

MetService has also issued a heavy rain watch for Northland, Auckland and Great Barrier Island until 8pm today.

The rain would ease for most of the North Island tomorrow.

“For the North Island over Sunday we’ve got rain and showers with heavy falls possible, easing for most but continuing in the Wairarapa,” Farmer said.

The forecast for Monday still brings possible showers for most of the North Island and rain in the south and east of the island, possibly heavy.

The weekend forecast is much better for the South Island.

Dunedin and Christchurch were facing a clear day today with a high of 12C, though morning frosts are possible. Fine days with highs around 10C are also in store for Queenstown, Invercargill and Stewart Island today.