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Severe weather warnings were lifted this morning, after most of the country escaped predicted thunderstorms, lightning, torrential rain and gale-force winds.
However, the Fire Service said firefighters from Northland and Auckland attended to slips, cars stranded in floodwaters, and numerous houses and garages filled with water overnight.
Northland firefighters were attending flood calls every four minutes between 11pm and midnight.
The service said a woman in Helena Bay was forced to abandon her vehicle after she became stranded in floodwaters.
Large slips had prevented firefighters from reaching her, so fearing she would be swamped, she scrambled to higher ground to a local farmers residence before walking home.
The Radio Network's head weather analyst, Philip Duncan, said the bad weather mainly affected rural areas but that forecasts were "in most cases, spot on".
"Heavy rain did fall, there were thousands of lightning strikes, and I'd bet money on the fact that some creeks and streams across the North Island had flash floods last night," he said.
At 11.30pm the wettest place was Auckland's eastern suburbs.
A Pakuranga home was forced to move its belongings upstairs after water started filling to knee high level.
The MetService reported Whangarei had received 35.8mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
There were limited call outs throughout the rest of the North Island, with a Fire Service spokesman saying there had been "two or three" surface flooding incidents on the Kapiti Coast, around Raumati, and one or two in the Taranaki.
A Southern Fire Service spokesman said there had not been any weather-related call outs overnight.
The MetService this morning lifted the severe weather warnings which had remained in place overnight, saying the front had moved away off the east of the North Island.
- NZPA with NZHERALD STAFF
