Six metres waves forecast for Northland's west coast

A wall of white water at Baylys Beach is captured in this photo taken by Janet Elliott.

Strong winds are expected off Northland's coastline today with MetService issuing a gale warning for both west and east coasts.

MetService was also predicting swells could rise to six metres on the west coast and warned people not to venture out in boats and to be careful on the beaches.

Meteorologist Tamara Buksa said winds from the southwest were rising to 40 knots, 75km/h, for a time today but would drop later this evening.

She said the sea was becoming very rough for a time, with a southwest swell rising to six metres. Showers out on the ocean would also reduce visibility.

Winds were expected to drop throughout the week with Friday and Saturday looking like good days for surfing on the west coast.

Residents in Dargaville were keeping a close eye on the Northern Wairoa River at high tide on Saturday with the water levels rising. Fortunately the banks were not breached.

At Baylys Beach walls of white waves rolled up the beach and surged up the access road to the beach.

Waves surge up the access road to Baylys Beach. Photo/ Janet Elliott

Local resident Janet Elliott, who has lived near Baylys Beach for four years, said it was the worst she had seen it since moving there.

"You couldn't see any of the beach, just walls of water ... it's great how the west coast does that."

However, the surges had started to erode some of the sand dunes.

"The waves have gouged out the sand. There's plenty of massive waves you can see in the distance."

On the east coast there would be winds gusting at 40 knots today creating rough seas. A westerly swell would rise to two metres for a time offshore.

MetService said temperatures for Northland would continue to rise through out the week with the mercury hitting a high of 17 degrees Celsius by Friday, with the coldest temperature sitting between 7 and 8 degrees Celsius.