Aucklanders are being encouraged to prepare for wild weather on Tuesday night as Vector warns strong winds could potentially wreak havoc and down power lines.
A heavy rain watch has been issued for eastern Auckland between 3pm on Tuesday to 3am on Wednesday. MetService is predicting a period of heavy rainfall, potentially approaching warning levels.
Auckland Emergency Management has brought it to Aucklanders' attention, tweeting that the watch includes Aotea Great Barrier Island and Waiheke Island.
Vector is also concerned about strong winds overnight and into Wednesday morning, sending out a statement saying gusts of more than 60km/h are expected.
"Following a period of rainfall over the past few days, the soil is still saturated and, together with strong winds, this could unfortunately see an increased chance of trees or vegetation debris damaging power lines," general manager of operations and maintenance Marko Simunac said.
"I want to reassure people we have crews available to respond and have made preparations to be as ready as we can ahead of any impact this weather might bring."
Simunac said he understood power outages can be "incredibly frustrating" and Vector's teams would work "quickly and safely" to get power back up and running if it does go out.
"Depending on conditions, we may need to stand our crews down for safety - please try to be patient if this happens and you are experiencing an outage," he said.
"We encourage everyone to check their devices are charged, and keep a power bank and torch handy just in case. For your safety, please stay well away from downed lines and call 111 if you see any.
"If you lose power, the fastest way to report it to us is through our outage centre on our website."
The heavy rain watch for Auckland is just one of an assortment of advisories for parts of New Zealand overnight. Heavy rain warnings are out for Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Tasmania, the Tararua Range, eastern Marlborough, and the Canterbury Plains.
"A complex low-pressure system affects central and northern New Zealand through to early Thursday, delivering rain to many places," MetService says.
The wild weather comes ahead of tropical cyclone Ruby's march south. The Category 2 storm is currently blasting New Caledonia and is expected to move towards New Zealand in the coming days.
It's moving quickly, which as WeatherWatch says, means rainfall totals are likely to be lower than previously thought.
MetService expects the system to intensify to a Category 3 over the next six hours "with maximum winds near the centre reaching 65 knots before weakening as it moves southeast".
"[Tropical cyclone] Ruby is forecast to continue moving southeast on Thursday while weakening. The system is forecast to move southeast past the upper North Island while remaining offshore during Thursday afternoon and evening."
