Waking to what sounded like a train ripping through their home, Mount Maunganui couple Brett and Heather Down thought a tornado had struck.

This morning they woke to find trees uprooted and tiles ripped from roofs after what Brett describes as a 'mini tornado”.

Chay Down, 7, next to the tree ripped from the ground during last night's wild weather. Photos: Brett Down.

The wild weather appears to have hit Ranch and Valley roads between 3.30am and 4am.

Brett and Heather were woken up at 3.30am to what Brett describes as a 'train going past the house”, with wind and rain lashing outside.

'I reached out and grabbed to window above our bed and had it ripped out of my hand,” says the Ranch Road resident.

'As I stood up looking outside there were a number of palm trees blown flat. The wind was just ripping through and the rain was so heavy.”

The weather brought down a large tree outside Omanu Primary School, with Mount Maunganui firefighters called cut the top half of the tree which was blocking the road about 3.50am.

Taking a morning walk, Brett and Heather could see a path of damage, including the lid of a power box lifted off and numerous fences down.

'A lot of houses with tile roofs had missing tiles. TV aerials were down and fences were down.

'It was just a very narrow corridor it was probably only 100 metres wide [focused on Ranch and Valley roads].”

Brett says Heather was told while taking sons Chay, 7 and Josh, 5 to Omanu Primary School the school has lost some shade sails and olive trees has been ripped out during the heavy wind and rain.

The couple are thankful nobody was hurt in the event.

MetService meteorologist Rob Kerr could not confirm if there was a mini tornado, but says a front passing across the North Island was 'quite active” thunderstorm-wise, and brought heavy rain and wind to the region overnight.

In terms of rainfall, the Kaimai Range recorded the highest amount with 24mm of rain in the last 12 hours, while Whakatane had 17.5mm.

The average wind speed during this time was 44knots with Tauranga recording 23 knots and Rotorua the highest with 44 knots, says Rob.

A tree down outside Mount Maunganui College on Ranch Road this morning.

The lid of a power box was lifted off by strong winds.