Heavy rain threat for the eastern ranges of the Bay of Plenty

Eastern ranges could get a lot of rain come Thursday and Friday. Photo / File

The Eastern Bay of Plenty could be in line for some heavy rain at the week's end.

There is low confidence of warning amounts of rain for parts of the country including the eastern ranges of Bay of Plenty on Thursday and Friday.

MetService said this was due to an active front which is forecast to move north across the South Island on Wednesday and onto the North Island on Thursday.

A low was expected to develop on this front as it moves east across the North Island on Friday, however, at this stage there was some uncertainty regarding the timing and position of this low.

According to MetService the front was forecast to bring northerly rain to the west of the South Island, also affecting the Southern Alps, with high confidence of rainfall accumulations reaching warning criteria in Fiordland, north of Doubtful Sound, and Westland, south of Otira, on Wednesday and a heavy rain watch is currently in force.

The confidence for warning amounts of rain in these areas is moderate on Thursday.

In addition, strong to gale northwesterlies precede this front and gale southerlies follow. At this stage there is a low risk of southerly gales becoming severe in coastal Hawke's Bay and Gisborne on Friday.

A ridge is expected to spread onto the South Island from the Tasman Sea on Friday and gradually extend northwards on Saturday.