Queens Birthday weekend is almost upon us and the forecast, predictably, looks changeable.

Rapidly rising floodwaters last night forced Bay of Plenty residents from their homes and trapped motorists.

A large landslip swept through a campground where up to 42 people were sleeping in flood-stricken Central Otago early today.

Further flooding is possible for the South Island's sodden Waitaki district, where 1000 people remain without drinking water.

Flood waters in Canterbury and Otago have begun to recede as heavy rain eases, but there's no respite with snow forecast for tonight.

The eastern Bay of Plenty is in for a dose of heavy rain tonight while the south gets a respite.

Torrential rain has flooded homes overnight in the Bay of Plenty, sparking evacuations and more than 20 callouts to emergency services.

Emergency and Civil Defence teams were gearing up last night for a weather beating expected to hit within hours.

Are parts of New Zealand about to go under water?

Heavy rain and gales are expected to lash the main islands from tonight, with the MetService warning of one of the "bigger weather events" for some time.

Don't put the umbrellas away just yet. A storm bringing more heavy rain and winds is on its way to parts of the North Island.

Is there a massive government conspiracy developing in the skies over New Zealand?

The weekend’s rough weather in the North Island definitely marked a major turning point in our weather - this is just the start of wetter things to come.