Metservice has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for parts of the country, including the Bay of Plenty, Coromandel Peninsula, Rotorua, and Waikato.

There is a chance that these thunderstorms will be severe, with damaging wind gusts of more than 110 km per hour, with a possibility of one or two localised damaging tornadoes, Metservice says.

The weather watch has been put in place for seven hours from 11pm, Tuesday, May 31 to 6am Wednesday, June 1.

"An intense front with embedded thunderstorms is expected to move east across the upper North Island overnight Tuesday," says Metservice.

"There is a chance that some of these thunderstorms will be severe with damaging wind gusts of more than 110 km per hour.

"There is also a possibility of one or two localised damaging tornadoes. Wind gusts of this strength can cause some structural damage, including trees and power lines, and may make driving hazardous.

"If any tornadoes occur, they will only affect very localised areas.​​​​​​"

Severe thunderstorm watch locations:

• Northland
• Auckland
• Great Barrier Island
• Coromandel Peninsula
• Waikato
• Waitomo
• Bay of Plenty
• Rotorua
• Taranaki

All locations are under the same weather watch, from 11pm Tuesday, May 31, to 6am Wednesday, June 1.

For more information on the active weather warnings in New Zealand, visit https://www.metservice.com/warnings/home.

For the latest Tauranga weather forecast, visit https://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/locations/tauranga.