Weather warnings in places as rain lashes parts of NZ

Pull out your umbrella and crank up the heater - it's going to be a wet, windy and cold week. Photo / File

Rain is expected to hammer parts of the country in the next 24 hours, while the rest of the week is going to be cold, wet and windy.

A warning is in place for rain in the northwestern corner of South Island including the Buller Ranges until 11pm tonight, while the Tararua Ranges are expected to collect between 80 to 110mm of rain overnight.

The rain then spreads to the Central North Island with MetService issuing a weather watch for Taumarunui, Taupō, Taranaki and Taihape. Those areas are expected to be drenched from overnight tonight until tomorrow evening.

"Some of those places it certainly will pile in," MetService meteorologist Angus Hines said.

Hines said even after the heavy rain expected to fall in the next 24 hours had passed, the weather for the rest of the week would bring strong winds, rain and chilly temperatures to most of the country.

"There will be a lot of showers, there will be some cool temperatures, there will be strong winds around large parts of the country even after these warnings expire tomorrow."