The South Island has endured snow, relentless rain and freezing temperatures, and now the wild winter weather is set to hit the North Island - hard.
Parts of the country have been hit by severe lightning strikes on Sunday evening as thunderstorms rumble over the North Island.
Those in northern areas are being warned to brace for stormy weather after a Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued earlier on Sunday.
- Weather: Thunderstorms likely, tornadoes possible
- Weather: Heavy rain, snow, thunder, big swell warnings for New Zealand
- Weather: Heavy rain and wind on the way, possible thunderstorms
A Strong Wind Watch has been issued for Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, northern Waikato, Bay of Plenty and the Gisbourne ranges.
A few lightning strikes have already been detected over South Auckland.
"The line of thunderstorms approaching Auckland have the potential to contain severe thunderstorms. These could bring hail of around 2cm diameter and damaging wind gusts of 100km/h," MetService posted to Twitter just after 8pm.
"The main band of activity is still out to sea, but will be over the city in about an hour or so," MetService wrote around 7:30pm.
A strong and enduring jet stream providing an upward motion to deepen a low-pressure system over New Zealand is believed to have fueled thunderstorm activity over northern and central regions.
Residents have been advised to stay inside and avoid standing under trees or near anything that may act as a conductor.
Newshub.
