It's a wet start to life at alert level 3.
"The week after is unusually chilly, unusually unsettled."
"A couple of hours of water literally destroys months and months of your life."
MetService said there's a blocking high over New Zealand which will provide a few more days of warm and dry conditions as it moves away from the country.
"We've got these gale-force winds coming down and across the South Island out of the subtropics."
Some areas of the North Island are taking a hammering.
It's not good news for Aucklanders trying to get a break from their household bubble.
"If it fails to arrive then this will shift things up a gear as far as drought conversations go."
The region's farming leaders are meeting this week to discuss what could happen next.
