Worst over after storm goes easy on Northland

Gale-force winds lashed exposed areas of Northland but the region escaped the worst of a storm that caused havoc for much of the country during the weekend.
And the better news is the weather for this weekend is likely to be good.
Kaikohe and Kaitaia were battered by Northland's strongest winds, registering storm force speeds of up to 95km/h on Friday.
Whangarei fared better with gusting to gale-force winds of 70km/h. The speeds were short of the hurricane-like winds that pounded Manukau Heads in Auckland.
MetService forecaster Richard Finnie said a disturbed southwest flow had hit the west coast of the country, causing most damage south of Auckland.
Northland received passing showers over the weekend, but not as much rain as further south. The region's temperatures dropped to around 10C on Saturday morning, and reached a peak of 18C in Whangarei the same day.
Mr Finnie said a series of fronts would continue to move over New Zealand this week, bringing showers and strong south-west winds to Northland, but not as powerful as those from the weekend.
He said the worst was over for the time being but the weather would remain unsettled until the end of the week when a ridge was expected over the North Island, bringing fine conditions during the weekend.