Auckland Harbour Bridge lanes briefly closed as high winds batter city, but worst weather over for most of country

High winds briefly caused lane closures on the Auckland Harbour bridge this morning, while rain and wind batters parts of the North Island.

Severe weather warnings have been lifted but many parts of the country are still experiencing poor weather.

The Auckland Harbour Bridge was temporarily operating with two lanes each way thanks to predicted strong winds during peak travel this morning, while the rain has been pelting down in parts of the city around dawn. Shortly before 10am the New Zealand Transport Agency said on social media the bridge was back to four lanes open on each side.

Showers will move west over the city during the day, according to MetService, with clear skies in the east by the afternoon and an expected high of 18C.

UPDATE 9:40AM
Due to severe wind gusts lanes Harbour Bridge lanes have been reduced to 2 in each direction temporarily. High-sided vehicles & motorcyclists should consider delaying their journey. Lanes will reopen asap, subject to gusts becoming less severe. ^TP https://t.co/g7c2FtxZjk

— NZ Transport Agency - Auckland & Northland (@nztaaklnth) May 15, 2024

Those in Wellington can expect a break from the rain this afternoon, and a high of 16C, before rain sets in again this evening.

As the rain tracks east across the upper North Island, the eastern Bay of Plenty and far north of Gisborne still have a small risk of thunderstorms this morning.

Meanwhile much of the South Island has woken to a clear, cold morning, with Christchurch and Timaru hitting 0C and Queenstown on 1C - but showers are expected to move in this morning.

Parts of Fiordland and Westland are also at a low risk of thunderstorms as a front moves northeast over the South Island today. From this afternoon there’s also a moderate risk of thunderstorms for inland Canterbury and southeast Marlborough, possibly with hail and heavy rain.

On Wednesday severe thunderstorms swept across the country, with thousands of lightning strikes hitting the central North Island.

Heavy rain brought surface flooding across the Hauraki Plains, Pāpāmoa and western Coromandel Peninsula as a low pressure system moved east, with Thames residents reporting weather damage including a roof blown away in the wind.

Waikato, Waitomo and Taranaki were still in the firing line overnight and into early this morning, with warnings of possible thunderstorms, and even potential for a few small tornadoes.

Severe weather warnings for those areas have now been lifted.