A spell of relatively settled weather sets in for most of the country, but there are a couple of areas that could still see some of the wet stuff.

A few showers are expected in the Bay of Plenty today, with heavier falls forecast for tomorrow afternoon.

The MetService is forecasting a few spots of rain for the Bay this weekend.

There seems no relief in sight from the heat, with daily highs ranging from 26-27 degrees and overnight lows of around 19 degrees, according to the MetService's five day forecast.

Widespread areas of thunderstorm activity in Northland and the central North Island earlier this week brought periods of torrential rain for some.

Over 50mm in one hour was recorded in the hills of Northland Wednesday evening, and good numbers clocked up over the Central Plateau as well. Meanwhile, a compact low, formerly Cyclone Victor, has been tracking southwards and is currently passing just east of the Gisborne region.

'As the low moves south of the North Island's east coast, the rain is forecast to ease, but will still feed cloud and drizzle into eastern areas of the South Island for Friday and Saturday,” says a statement from the MetService.

'However, the centre of the low is forecast to pass near the Chatham Islands on Friday, bringing a period of heavy rain and gales there.” Into the weekend, there will be settled weather for the South Island from Sunday and into early next week.

Unfortunately, a mass of subtropical air lingers over the North Island offering little respite from the humid and warm conditions which have affected many places over the last few days, although this should start to ease overnight Sunday.

Scattered afternoon and evening showers are expected in central and northern areas of the North Island through the weekend.