About seven tall pine trees lining a paddock on State highway 1 near Waipu have been bowled over by high winds. Fortunately they fell into cow paddocks and not across the main road. Kristin Edge reports.

Blustery winds blew two trucks off State Highway 1, just south of Kaiwaka, in Northland. A tow truck was used to pull a truck and trailer unit back on the road.

Northland could be in for a battering with heavy rain and winds of up to 130km/h forecast for the region and the likelihood of flooding.A tree on Three Mile Bush Rd near Kamo has been blown over. Contractors are to clear the tree and open the road as soon as possible.

Whangarei's controversial Hundertwasser Arts Centre project is dead in the water after councillors today voted to drop the plan.

Spiders emerging from flooded farmland have festooned about 75 metres of both sides of Jordan Valley Rd at Hikurangi with their webs. Untold millions of the arachnids are swarming over the webs and road, with others on bits of web floating away in the wind.

See Griff the sniffer dog in action at Whangarei Primary School.

Radio presenters Fletch, Vaughan and Megan were at the Town Basin in Whangarei today promoting their new breakfast show which starts on ZM next week. Carl `Fletch' Fletcher, Vaughan Smith and Megan Sellers are former drivetime show hosts on The Edge. Northern Advocate reporter Hannah Norton spoke to the trio during their visit to Whangarei.

The opening round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship was welcomed to Whangarei over the weekend. The first event of the international series also incorporated the first round of the New Zealand Rally Championships and Richard Mason, with wife Sara co-driving, finally flicked a long-standing monkey off their backs.

Sometimes the role of the police is not just chasing the baddies but inspiring our youth and breaking down some barriers between the uniform and the communities they serve. This was a great day at BOI College.

Craig Cooper from the Northern Advocate pledged to measure the impact of Cyclone Lusi on a local waterfall. He visited the waterfall on Mt Parihaka before, and after the cyclone. In the interests of journalistic accuracy he insisted on returning to the exact same spot. Video shot by Imran "Scorcese" Ali

Northern Advocate editor Craig Cooper got this footage today of waves pummeling Onerahi foreshore as a result of Cyclone Lusi.

Cyclone Lusi continues to slide south towards New Zealand bringing severe gales and heavy rain. The low will track down the western side of NZ then cross over the South Island on Sunday night – before leaving the nation on Monday morning. Severe weather may affect a number of regions, so please check with MetService for the latest warnings & watches – and WeatherWatch.co.nz for special weather news updates across the weekend. For farmers wanting rain Lusi should deliver a soaking to a number of regions – but some may miss out due to the changing wind flow.

Two low pressure systems are moving in towards New Zealand, one coming out of the sub-tropics from the north east and the other coming in from the south west. The two will weaken as they move across the country this week, but it means some who need rain will get it – but the rain predictions for the upper North Island remain patchy and hit and miss. By the end of the week we have another sou’west flow across the country which means the weekend ahead may be a little cooler along our western coastlines, but sunnier and hotter in the east or north east. Don’t forget to also check out our great new animated wind maps in our weather videos.

In tomorrow's Northern Advocate we talk to Kaikohe teenager Shania Howard about shattering stereotypes. Justine Lyden captured her delivering a powerful performance of her poem that is making waves in Northland.

Sunny weather has returned to western areas as a large high holds firm over the North Island. Calm and mostly dry weather is in the forecast for the next few days and weekend. However the cloudy weather in the west might return at times later this week and weekend as a light westerly flow develops this weekend. Philip Duncan also discusses the possibility of a rain maker in the last week of the month – but says the models remain conflicted.

The rain makers are mostly giving New Zealand a miss this week and the cloudy, gloomy, weather for some western areas should also clear up as winds shift from the west to the east over much of the North Island. Last weeks rain was hugely welcomed by gardeners and farmers who tell WeatherWatch.co.nz that conditions 10 days ago were drier than they were 12 months ago (ahead of the big drought) – now farmers are smiling as we head towards summer with good grass growth and potentially another rain maker on the horizon before the month is done.

Locals at Mokau marae thank firefighters who were called to the blaze that destroyed the wharenui.

The forecast this week and weekend looks mostly dry for those celebrating Guy Fawkes. For farmers and gardeners wanting rain in the north, there is a low coming in from the Tasman Sea but it is a bit hit and miss. It will deliver isolated heavy showers perhaps on Wednesday and Thursday for some parts of the North Island and potentially the upper South Island. Temperatures this week look warm… in fact hot for some with highs pushing into the mid 20s.

This weekend is looking sunnier, calmer and drier for the most part as air pressure evens out around the nation. Sunny, warm, weather is expected to kick off the weekend in eastern parts of the South Island where light frosts are even possible. On Sunday temps drop a little across parts of the South Island and showers or rain returns to the lower West Coast. For those desperately wanting rain in the north, there isn’t much in the forecast but a low in the Tasman Sea next week may bring a little wet weather to the north and west of New Zealand.

Another burst of wind and rain is coming to New Zealand this week but unlike last week it wont be as stormy with winds mostly below damaging and rain events fairly short lived. The bulk of the rain will be again falling on the western coastline and again mostly the West Coast. Sunniest will be eastern parts of the North Island while windiest weather will again be central and eastern areas – and possibly Auckland for a time as the sou’west flow returns for the end of the working week.

A lot to cover in this weather video – gales for Wellington, Central NZ and eastern areas. Heavy rain for the West Coast. Hot winds in the north and cool winds in the south. The next few days are dominated by a large low pressure system in the Southern Ocean and will push up a strong west to south west wind flow across New Zealand – which eases late Sunday bringing, hopefully, a fairly settled Labour Day Monday. There may be some cloud in the west and even the odd isolated shower – but for the most part Monday looks to be much calmer for most places.

Rough weather and sunny weather are both in the forecast this long weekend. Generally speaking western areas of the South Island will be wet, eastern areas of both islands warm and sunny and southern areas of both islands cool and windy. Northern NZ looks to be most settled with some stunning weather for those regions in the far north and north east – but even this big low in the Southern Ocean will bring a few showers and brisk westerlies to northern areas.

We take a look at the week ahead - and while it's calm to start with in the north, the windier weather comes back this week. It will rise up the South Island on Thursday then the North Island on Friday. We take a look at the forecast for the start of Labour Weekend too - and in true tradition the weekend has a mix of sunny, dry, weather and windy, wet weather. It's a typical spring forecast!

Volunteers for the The Pukenui Trust have been working incredibly hard for three years to control the predators in the Pukenui Forest and restore the bio-diversity in the forest with the goal of re-introducing native birds. They dream of one day introducing kiwi to the forest. Off the beaten track a huge kauri soars above the forest, a reminder of what was here before us and what Max, Gerry, Jane and the whole team of volunteers are working to restore.

The first large high in several weeks will cross New Zealand this weekend bringing mostly dry and mostly calm conditions. While a front and strong winds move up the South Island on Friday the high will basically ‘kill off’ the wind and rain – leaving cloudy areas and a few isolated showers on Saturday but certainly a huge improvement from recent weather. Most places have a calm, dry and warm weekend on the way.

Severe gales are again blasting parts of New Zealand but there is some positive news if you’re tired of the wind – a large high looks set to calm things down later this week in the north, then into many other areas this weekend. While gales are likely to return to Wellington later this week they should be well down on the hurricane force winds recorded on Monday in the capital. The South Island will be more exposed to windy weather this week – but mostly sunny and warm if you live in the east.

A house surrounded by native bush on Whananaki North Rd was the focus of police attention.

Gales, possibly damaging, will surge across the nation this weekend and again on Monday. On Saturday it will be the North Island most exposed to gales, some gusts over 110km/h. On Sunday the North Island sees winds easing for the most part but then a ferocious band of wind is likely to move into inland parts of the South Island before blasting central New Zealand - including the capital Wellington - on Monday PM. One to watch.

Trent Reyburn had a plan, to raise awareness for a cause that is dear to him. This is his journey, his story. Gareth Mauchline captured Trent's journey in this short documentary which has won the open category in the Inspiring Stories film competition. The theme for this year's competition was``Young Kiwis Making a Difference''