Rough weather and stormy seas caused havoc for boat owners in Auckland overnight, with six boats coming loose and two being written off.
Auckland Transport spokesman Mark Hannan said today that five boats had either broken their moorings or come off their anchorages, and although some would simply need to be brought back to a marina, one was completely wrecked and another had sunk.
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"One has sunk, one is wrecked, one was found in the mangroves at Herald Island, one has been beached at Waiheke and one was collected from the Tamaki River."
Another boat, which Mr Hannan said Auckland Transport did not have record of, washed up on rocks next to Tamaki Drive in the Waitemata Harbour.
Mr Hannan said it was not clear exactly what happened in each case but "it was the weather, absolutely" which caused the chaos.
Auckland's Harbourmaster Bruce Goff said the boat near Tamaki Drive broke its mooring and at some point the owners were aware of the incident and were on their way to the site where the boat had washed up to try to find out what happened.
A weather warning for gale-force winds in the harbour was issued by MetService early this morning.
"A strong northerly flow covers the area ahead of an active front that becomes slow moving over the North Island today before moving away to the northeast on Friday, followed by a ridge. Another front moves on to the North Island by Sunday," MetService said.
Meanwhile, MetService has put a weather warning in place for the west coast of the South Island and Bay of Plenty and Rotorua.
A front should stay slow moving over the North Island, before drifting eastwards and weakening tomorrow afternoon, bringing periods of heavy rain in the Bay of Plenty.
MetService warned of surface flooding and slips in the area as up to 150mm of rain could accumulate in the next 30 hours, a "significant amount".
Heavy rain and thunderstorms were also expected about Fiordland, Westland and Buller through to Friday morning, where another 150-250mm could accumulate on top of what has already fallen on the ranges of Westland.
Severe gale warnings in Taranaki have been lifted but MetService warned those in the area that heavy rain was forecast overnight tonight.
A front moving from the west yesterday brought huge amounts of rain and strong winds to the North and South Islands, causing flooding in many parts of the South Island as well as thunderstorms in Central Otago.
It caused havoc all over the country as cars crashed, roads flooded and a house was struck by lightning as severe winds, rain and thunderstorms lashed the country.
Dangerous driving conditions caused at least 15 car crashes in the Waikato alone yesterday as a result of drivers not adjusting to the weather.
Following distances need to increase from the two-second rule to at least the four-second rule in bad weather," said Waikato road policing manager Inspector Freda Grace. "Driving to the conditions is not just about the weather, it's about making sure we as drivers and our vehicles are also fit for the conditions."
Further south, a Nelson woman was rescued overnight as floodwaters rose around her and her baby daughter next to the Waimea River, 20km southwest of Nelson.
As floodwaters rose around their trapped vehicle, the young mother tucked her baby between her body and a lifejacket and climbed, in the darkness, into an inflatable rescue boat. The pair, along with the 9-month-old baby's father and another man, had become trapped on a flooded stopbank road next to the river.
A rescue helicopter couldn't reach them because of the stormy weather, so two surf lifesaving volunteers in an inflatable rescue boat came to their aid, cutting through several fences to reach them.
In Wellington and Auckland, rainy mornings were forecast to ease into drier afternoons with strong northerly winds easing by the afternoon in Auckland and Wellington before picking up again in the evening in Wellington, MetService predicted.
Tomorrow was forecast to be similar in both regions, with morning rain easing by afternoon and Wellington winds easing as the day wears on.
In Christchurch today the day should be fine, MetService meteorologist Chelsea Glue said, with a small chance of rain in the evening and some high cloud cover.
Looking to the weekend, Mrs Glue said another front would start to move up the South Island on Saturday, bringing with it rain and winds.
"The North Island should be dry on Saturday apart from a few afternoon or evening showers. The front will move up the South Island on Saturday bringing a few showers but not as much rain or wind as the current fronts."
Parts of the east coast of the North Island could be spared from weekend rain and the west coast of the South Island would likely be hit hardest by rain brought in from the front she said.
Mrs Glue said despite the wind and rain battering the country, temperatures would remain in the low to mid 20s for most areas - "summer's not quite over yet."
