Huge parts of the country continue to be battered and bruised by extreme weather

Over 400 Nelson homes have been evacuated over the last two days - 113 because of landslides.

Even more people have self-evacuated as severe weather continues to hammer the region, with a red rain warning in force again until 10 this morning.

Tasman District Police advised motorists in the Marlborough region to avoid any non-essential travel last night, due to unsafe driving conditions.

A local state of emergency was declared in the region yesterday.

And the Transport Agency is urging caution on storm-damaged Northland roads, with two state highways closed in the region.

There's cautious optimism rivers have peaked in Taranaki, after extreme weather caused flooding, voluntary evacuations, road closures, sewerage overflows, downed trees and landslides.

MetService's Gerrard Bellam says the worst hit areas will likely continue to feel Mother Nature's wrath until midday.

He expects weather to ease in the afternoon, and give the areas a break for a few days.