Wet weather is still hanging around while New Zealand waits for summer to start, with MetService warning of heavy rain for parts of the country in the coming days.
A low pressure system coming from the west is forecast to bring some wet weather over the next few days, MetService said, but it's expected to settle down towards the end of the week when high pressure takes its place.
Rain will develop for the southern part of the West Coast overnight into Tuesday. This will then move onto the northwest of the South Island later in the day before heading to the west of the North Island on Tuesday night.
The heaviest rainfalls are expected in Westland south of Harihari, where an orange heavy rain warning is in place. This warning is in place for 24 hours from 4am on Tuesday and 180mm of rain is expected to fall in this time.
MetService said the heavy rain may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips are also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous.
A heavy rain watch is also in place for Mount Taranaki, Tasman west of Motueka and Fiordland north of Doubtful Sound, which will last until early Wednesday morning.
Showery weather is in store for most of New Zealand for the rest of Wednesday and northwesterly winds will change to southwesterlies. The wettest areas will be from the Central Plateau northwards.
"It will be a rainy start to the Fieldays agricultural event at Mystery Creek in Hamilton before a big improvement on Thursday, which should make for a sunny first day of summer to enjoy being outdoors," said MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan.
"It isn't just Hamilton though - Thursday looks like a drier trend for most of the country as showers become fewer and further apart."
Temperatures will be around average this week, MetService said, but a showery change to direct southerly winds on Thursday night will make for a cooler-than-average start to summer for the east of the South Island.
A high-pressure system is finally expected to move onto the South Island as the country heads into the weekend, which will bring settled weather there while showery southerlies continue in the North Island.
