More rain on way for many

Cyclone Ita may have blown out of steam but the long weekend is set to stay wet or showery for large parts of the country until tomorrow.

Auckland is copping the heaviest downpours today so far but showers are forecast to continue for many other areas, including some South Island regions soaked and battered late last week.

Many residents lost power in last week's storms and lines crews are working to restore the supply to south Westland residents, 300 of whom had no electricity last night.

Power lines in the region were damaged by falling trees and high winds and for affected residents south of Fox Glacier, it could be a couple of days at least until their power is restored, Westpower chief executive Rob Caldwell said.

It was restored in the Franz Joseph Glacier CBD last night and efforts are continuing in Whataroa, Greymouth and Fox Glacier.

Today a front is heading down the North Island and it brought heavy rain around lunchtime in Auckland, Met Service duty meteorologist David Miller said.

Showers and possible thunder storms were expected to hit the city for the rest of the day and it was a similar story for the rest of the North Island.

The showers would continue tomorrow morning before more settled weather later in the day, meaning the best time to be outdoors would be as the long weekend was ending.

Temperatures would be down slightly but it was still expected to be warm.

The South Island was doused at the end of last week and today Mr Miller said it was a "tale of two halves'' on the mainland.

Rain was forecast to fall in west coast areas, with heavy falls in Westland. The east coast would be nicer, although a "few spots'' of rain were expected in Canterbury and squally showers were forecast for Central Otago and Dunedin.

Tomorrow, falls in the west would ease to showers. Temperatures would also drop slightly from today's highs.

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