Wild weather over North Island to linger heading into the weekend

Waves crash over the sea wall at Napier Port on Thursday. Photo / Supplied

Don't put away your rain jackets, gumboots and umbrellas just yet, the poor weather which has had its way with the country is set to linger.

A slow-moving trough has trenched over the Central North Island in the past week with around 290mm of rainfall falling in the inland Hawke's Bay alone.

Heavy rain has caused slips on major roads, extra work for farmers and sewage to flow onto the streets in Hawke's Bay.

Dawson and Novia Bliss drove the Napier-Taupo Road on Wednesday, and Dawson Bliss, who has been driving the road for 50 years, said it was the worst he had seen it.

"Even for me, I was scared. Water was coming down the hills in waves almost," he said.

Despite the trough deciding the move on tomorrow, Metservice meteorologist Brian Mercer said another daunting system is brewing in the east.

"The rain is easing at the moment but overnight we are expecting some more heavy falls and they're going to continue into Friday afternoon," he said.

"We do also have the possibility of thunderstorms tomorrow pretty much all day from Wairoa northwards, Napier and Gisborne as well."

The outlook for the weekend does not look to improve much as the system settles over the Central North Island this weekend.

Meanwhile, Auckland is expecting more scattered rain overnight that is forecast to continue through the day tomorrow.

Aucklanders should make the most of the morning before another risk of showers heading into the afternoon, Mercer said.

"There's not going to be big rainfall numbers but certainly during the afternoon and evening pretty much everywhere should see a few showers," he said.

"It should clear up again in the evening and then looking further ahead into Saturday it's going to be a pretty nice day.

"There could be a few showers about the West Coast but generally most of the region will have quite a nice day and you'll be very unlucky to get [showers] in the city."

The raft of cool southerlies battering the country is set to continue as well as the cold air from down south continues to be blown up.

Next week the mercury level will start to rise as spring kick-starts itself in the Auckland region as northerlies start to develop.

"Tomorrow, [Auckland] looks like it could get a maximum temperature of about 17C in the city but an overnight temperature of about 8C," Mercer said.

The rest of the North Island is expected to experience similar temperatures as its been having for the past few days over the weekend.

Wellington has been facing the brunt of the southerly winds but as they die out over the weekend temperatures should start to improve heading into next week.