Top of South Island braced for 44 hours of rain

Photo: MetService

Orange heavy rain warnings have been issued for parts of the South Island, with heavy downpours forecast in the Tasman district.

MetService warnings are in place for Westland, Buller, Tasman and the ranges between Nelson and Marlborough.

In Tasman, north-west of Motueka, up to 450 millimetres of rain is forecast between 6am Sunday and 2am Tuesday but possibly as much as 600mm about some peaks.

Peaks rates of 20 to 3 mm/h are expected from Sunday afternoon.

MetService says there is a moderate chance of an upgrade to a red warning.

🟧 ‼️Orange Warnings issued for Significant Heavy Rain over northern and western part of the South Island.

Valid from Sunday morning to Monday night (west) or Tuesday morning (north).

250mm-450mm rain is forecast. 📈

Check the details herehttps://t.co/os2FgIcKqk… pic.twitter.com/oETTmF9Jzq
— MetService NZ (@MetService) May 28, 2026

In the ranges of Buller, up to 350mm of rain is expected between 9am Sunday and midnight Monday, at peak rates of 15 to 25mm/h from Sunday afternoon with thunderstorms possible.

In Westland, south of Hokitika, up to 450mm of rain is expected about the ranges and lesser amounts nearer the coast between 2am Sunday and 8pm Monday.

Between Nelson and Marlborough, up to 400mm of rain is forecast for the Richmond and Bryant Ranges, including the Rai Valley between 9am Sunday and 3am Tuesday.

This story was first published on rnz.co.nz