Weather: Showers in Auckland, heavy rain warning for West Coast

A showery Saturday is on the cards for Auckland and most of the North Island, but it's the West Coast that will be worst hit by the wet weather.

The MetService has issued a severe weather warning for Westland, with between 120mm and 150mm of rain expected to fall about the ranges in the south during a 21-hour period.

A complex trough will bring downpours this afternoon, with heavy falls forecast to continue until midday tomorrow.

People in the area, especially trampers, should keep an eye out for rapidly rising waterways and localised slips and flooding, MetService said.

Meanwhile, in the north - from Whangarei to Wellington - residents are likely to have woken to a drizzly morning, but the skies should clear by evening for most areas.

Things are looking brighter on the East Coast, with a fine day - apart from a chance afternoon shower - forecast for Hastings.

Christchurch and Dunedin will get mostly sunny weather too with just a few periods of high cloud.

Temperatures will be generally mild - highs in the late teens and low 20s are predicted for most of the country.

Auckland's high will about 18C, but Hastings could get up to 21C in the early afternoon.

Although skies should be drier tomorrow, there will still be a bit of cloud around.

Northland, Auckland and Hamilton will likely get the odd shower later in the day and there'll be occasional rain north of the capital.

It'll be a sunny Sunday in Christchurch, bar a bit of high cloud, but further south towards Dunedin cloud will increase before rain develops in the evening.

Today's forecast
Whangarei: Cloudy periods and a few showers from late morning. Fresh northwesterlies and a high of 20C
Auckland: Showers, more frequent from afternoon, then clearing in the evening. Northwesterlies, gusty at times and a 18C high
Hamilton: Rain developing in the morning, then clearing by evening. Northwesterlies, 17C high
Tauranga: Cloudy periods. A few showers, clearing in the evening. Westerlies, high of 18C
Wellington: A period of morning rain, then becoming fine. Strong northerlies, high of 15C
Christchurch: Mostly fine but high cloud at times. Northwesterlies developing this morning, 17C high
Dunedin: Fine. High cloud increasing evening as westerlies turn northerly, high of 15C
(Source - MetService.com)