Flights in and out of Wellington Airport have been suspended this evening as wild weather moves down the country.
The airport advises that flights have been affected by the weather, and services had either been cancelled or diverted
The news comes after much of the North Island copped a bashing by the remnants of Cyclone Debbie during the day.
Heavy rain warnings have been lifted for upper areas of the island, but many roads remain closed this evening.
In South Auckland, power was restored to most people after outages affected thousands this afternoon.
About 19,000 properties were affected by a fault with Transpower equipment from 3.40pm to just after 5pm, after the city was soaked by a month's worth of rain in 24 hours, .
About 200 homes remained without power because of issues caused by weather, a Vector Energy spokeswoman said.
Most were caused by trees falling on to powerlines or power poles falling over in loose ground or where there were slips.
Vector hoped to have power restored to most homes tonight and were working with the council to access the areas blocked by slips.
A thick band of rain pounded the city and surrounding region today.
Metservice meteorologist Lisa Murray said those in the area would be seeing some thunder and lightning, as well as bouts of extremely heavy downpours.
"This rain band is affecting Auckland, extending all the way up to Northland, and down almost as far as Hamilton.
"It's moving to the west, so it will ease off this evening.
"That's the characteristic of a system like this, it comes in bands.
"So there are more bands of rain that are due to come in later, as well."
A severe thunderstorm watch is in place for the Auckland region, and squally gusts of up to 110km/h are possible.
Whangaparaoa has recorded 167.8mm over the last 24 hours, while Auckland Airport has recorded 82.4mm.
Auckland usually gets 91mm of rain for all of April.
"This is a significant event, by any standards," Murray said.
More than 170 schools and early learning centres have been closed because of severe wet weather, the Ministry of Education says.
Around 12,500 students and 3400 pre-schoolers are affected by the closures, which have seen 89 schools and 84 early learning centres close their doors.
A state of emergency was declared in the Whanganui and Rangitikei districts.
On the South Island's east coast, Kaikoura is expecting up to 130mm rain in the almost 24 hours to 6am.
MetService has warned residents on the Kaikoura coast and Canterbury's Banks Peninsula that gales with gusts of up to 140kmh will arrive tomorrow.
In Christchurch, residents are preparing for the system to hit them.
Temporary water pumps are being set up in the city, which is expecting steady rain from this afternoon, Fairfax reports.
They will be stationed on Warrington Rd, in the flood-prone Flockton area, the Christchurch City Council says.
Meanwhile, council contractors are clearing grates and making sure the drainage network is in prime condition before the worst of the weather arrives.
MetService predicted almost 70mm of rain would fall in Christchurch in the 24 hours from 8pm today.
In Auckland. tt will be a wet commute home: another 80mm is forecast to fall in the city before 10pm, Metservice warned.
Further south, Waikato and Waitomo can expect 120mm before midnight, and there are also rain warnings for Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki.
Some areas have been told they may get three times April's normal rainfall in just 48 hours.
The latest forecast prompted Waikato Regional Council to warn residents to stay alert until at least tomorrow morning.
The region, as with much of the North Island, has copped a deluge of rain since the remnants of the Cyclone Debbie, which took lives and caused billions of dollars worth of damage in Queensland, crossed the Tasman early this week.
Kiwis have been luckier - so far.
Firefighters rescued two people trapped in waist-deep water inside their van in rural Bay of Plenty this morning, and police confirmed a motorist had a lucky escape when her car overturned in water more than a metre deep after aquaplaning between Raglan and Huntly just before dawn.
In Napier, wastewater systems were struggling to cope with the heavy rain, prompting the city council to ask residents this morning to cut back on water use for the next 24 hours.
