Heavy rain and wind is set to pick up throughout the night in the North Island and the top of the South Island

In some parts of the country wind gusts of up to 130 kilometres an hour have been recorded.

People are being warned to stay out of the water and to be careful when driving.

There have been power outages in Northland and Auckland which could continue throughout the night.

MetService warnings are in place for Auckland, Northland, Coromandel, parts of the central North Island and for Tasman and Buller.