Cyclone Cook: Where it will hit and when

If you think today is wet, wait until the eye of Cyclone Cook passes over New Zealand tomorrow and Friday.

Newshub has created two animated maps showing what parts of the country the cyclone will pass over, and on what day.

The eye of the storm is expected to pass directly over east Auckland, the Hauraki Plains and into west Waikato on Thursday night, before heading down through east Taranaki and the Whanganui regions.

On Friday it will kiss the top of the east coast of the South Island before barrelling down the sea-ward coast.

MetService say the those particular regions will be hit very hard by the cyclone - likely to be New Zealand's worst since 1968.

Newshub.