Rain, wind, and a chance of thunderstorms are on their way today, with the rain expected to reach the coast this afternoon, if not sooner, says meteorologist at Metservice Stephen Glassey.

A series of active fronts move east across the country today clearing the North Island this evening. Strong northerlies precede the fronts and are followed by vigorous westerlies.

The rain band moving across the North Island today. Image: Metservice.

'We are expecting the Bay of Plenty to get rain, it will probably start pushing in this morning, but might not reach coastal areas until this afternoon,” says Stephen.

The rain band was moving across Auckland and the Waikato this morning.

While western areas of the North Island from Waikato to New Plymouth are warned of squally thunderstorms this morning with a possibility of flash flooding and damaging wind gusts over 110km/h, winds in the Bay of Plenty are not expected to be as severe.

'The main thunderstorm risk is in western areas of the country,” says Stephen. 'We do have a low risk of thunderstorms spreading into the bop but not expected to be severe the watch areas are in the west.”

The Bay of Plenty is also expected to experience stronger winds this evening after the rain has passed, possibly 60-70kmh gusts in exposed places.

The strongest winds over the North Island this morning are expected further south in Hawkes Bay and the Tararua district.