With a state of emergency in place for Tairāwhiti Gisborne area, the MetService is warning that more heavy rain is possible this afternoon.

Between 200-300mm of rain fell overnight in the Gisborne area, with rainfall rates up to 50mm/hr in places, fuelled by extremely humid northerlies.

With more heavy rain expected today, and in consultation with Gisborne Regional Council, MetService has extended the Rain Warning for Gisborne until early Thursday morning, and have also upgraded the warning to a Red Warning for Heavy Rain.

"MetService Red Warnings are reserved for the most severe weather events when significant impacts can be expected, such as flooding and damage to roads and powerlines, and possibly isolating communities," says MetService Meteorologist David Miller.

"As such, immediate action should be taken by people in the region to ensure their safety. Advice on what to do in an emergency can be found at getready.govt.nz."

People are urged to drive to the conditions if they have to be out on the roads today.

Outside of the Tairāwhiti Gisborne region, Orange Heavy Rain Warnings are also in force for the Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay and Taranaki, while a Heavy Rain Watch is active for Taupō.

Additionally, much of the country is at risk of seeing thunderstorms with localised downpours today, and a Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for Northland, Auckland and Waikato.

Full details of all current Severe Watches and Warnings can be found here http://bit.ly/AllWarnings.

Image: MetService.