Thunder, lightning and rain lashed the Eastern Bay of Plenty last night, with predictions of more wild weather today.

Te Teko saw the most amount of rain with 43mm falling in the region in the last 24 hours.

A tornado seen near Apata in the Western Bay of Plenty last night.

The MetService issued a thunderstorm watch for the Bay of Plenty last night when rainfall rates of 25 to 40mm of rain was forecast.

MetService meteorologist John Law says last night's weather system was very active.

'The band then moved eastwards across the Bay of Plenty. Te Teko had about 43mm of rain last night.”

Further west, mini tornados were spotted near Apata and Aongatete as the rain, thunder and lightning lashed the Bay.

One reader reported seeing over six twisters out towards Tauranga Harbour and the Wainui Estuary, while another was captured near Walkers Road East towards Katikati.

One reader who contacted SunLive said: 'Going on our time stamps, the first tornado we noticed touch the ground went by the house at 6.30pm.

'It wasn't intense, but had a large footprint of about 100 metres and was picking up dust and leaves and bending grass and trees over.

'Between then and 8.30pm we saw at least six more, but they didn't track up beside the house.

'There was the odd lightning strike in the distance, but the rain didn't follow it. The wind was continually changing direction as they formed, so it was quite eerie to feel it and watch the clouds start to swirl before the funnels formed.”

John says the intense band of weather from last night has now cleared and made room for clearer skies.

'For the rest of the day, we are set to see some more showers develop and some can be fairly heavy with a chance of a rumble of thunder, but more likely inland.”