Rain, snow and strong winds are being forecast for the country as another winter storm hurtles towards New Zealand.

The MetService says a broad low with a series of fronts is set to sweep over New Zealand during the next few days bringing some nasty weather.

During Thursday a strong, moist northerly flow brings rain to much of the North Island, with the potential for heavy falls for the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne areas.

The low then crosses the South Island during Friday, and the risk of heavy rain extends over southern and eastern areas, falling as snow over higher inland parts.

The low then departs the country to the east during Saturday afternoon, and we see an improving trend for the second half of the weekend.

'We have a severe weather watch in place for Northland, Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty for very strong northeast winds from Thursday afternoon, and some exposed parts may see gusts of 100km/h towards evening,” says MetService meteorologist Robert Kerr.

'Also, thunderstorms are forecast for the Northland, Auckland, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty regions from Thursday afternoon, and there is a potential for some of them to bring localised downpours and very strong winds.”

Confidence grows over where for worst weather coming. 6 day rain flags Bay of Plenty and Canterbury - Dunedin. ^RK https://t.co/a07FIZYCQ0 pic.twitter.com/hk3jBORiob

— MetService (@MetService) July 18, 2017

As the low crosses the country during Friday morning, rain and showers cover much of the country, and heavier snow and rain impacts southern and eastern parts of the South Island.

'We also have a severe weather watch for Canterbury and Otago for Friday and Saturday, for rain potentially reaching warning amounts and significant snow accumulations above 400 meters.”

As the rain sets in during Friday, the Christchurch, Dunedin and inland areas are at risk of warning thresholds being surpassed, which could lead to rapidly rising rivers and localised flooding.

This combination of heavy rain and inland snow is likely to cause significant disruption to the transport network and possibly cause power outages.

The severe weather watch currently covering these areas are likely to be upgraded to a severe weather warning for rain and snow over the next 24 hours.