Wind and rain set to reach Hawke's Bay

Some areas of Hawke's Bay experienced significant rain overnight on Sunday. Photo / Warren Buckland

Wind is set to affect much of New Zealand including Hawke's Bay, with periods of rain arriving throughout the week.

MetService issued a strong wind watch warning for areas of Hawke's Bay south of Waipawa on Sunday.

On Monday the warning was changed to areas of Hawke's Bay south of Hastings.

Much of the region is expected to be windy, with coastal exposed areas the most affected.

Weather Watch said Monday and Tuesday will be the windiest days nationally with gusts reaching between 40 and 60 km/h in parts of Hawke's Bay on Monday afternoon.

By Tuesday evening the wind begins to settle in Hawke's Bay with gusts of between 20 and 40 km/h throughout the region.

Colder air surged north on Monday, bringing cooler temperatures to areas south of Auckland.

Tuesday is set to be colder than normal for many places in New Zealand, Weather Watch said.

Temperatures will drop to 17C in Napier and Hastings, 16C in Wairoa and 14C in Waipukurau.

Weather Watch said the warmer than normal temperatures experienced over Easter are largely over for much of the country.

Showers are also expected on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Hawke's Bay experienced periods of rain on Sunday night from 10pm until 10am. The rain was at its heaviest between 3am and 7am.

While inland areas experienced little rain, Te Haroto experienced the most rain, receiving 37.8mm between 10pm and 10am, which a MetService spokeswoman described as a significant amount.

Wairoa received 8.6mm and Mahia 5mm.

The weekend is set to be mainly fine throughout the region with rain occurring on Saturday morning and clearing later in the day.

Napier and Hastings will have highs of 22C, Wairoa 21C and Waipukurau 20C.

Sunday will be partly cloudy with light winds and temperatures will be in the late teens and low 20s with Napier and Hastings reaching 22C, Wairoa 20C and Waipukurau 18C.