A number of roads in Marlborough are already closed this morning after heavy rain last night. Bothams Bend Rd, Omaka Ford, Jacksons Ford and Wairau Bar Rd are all closed and surface flooding is affecting Northbank Rd.
Marlborough District Council is urging drivers to use their headlights and drive to the conditions.
The National Emergency Management Agency advises that people in the line of the storms should take shelter indoors, away from windows. If people are caught outside they should avoid sheltering under trees and move their cars away from trees too.
In New Zealand a thunderstorm will be classed as severe if it is likely to have more than 25mm/h of rain, hail of more than 20mm diameter, winds up to 110km/h and damaging tornadoes.
The storm comes a day after torrential rain caused widespread chaos in Auckland and the upper North Island.
Auckland, Northland and Bay of Plenty were all under heavy and severe weather warnings yesterday as downpours battered the regions, causing surface flooding and commuter chaos.
All weather warnings and watches have been lifted for the North Island but Auckland is still under a local state of emergency, some roads are still closed due to flooding and there is a risk that waterways will continue to rise with periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms still possible.
