Keep an eye on the sky as the MetService has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel.

Scattered heavy showers with thunderstorms are expected to develop over the central North Island this afternoon.

There is a moderate risk that some of these thunderstorms could become severe and produce localised downpours of 25-40mm per hour in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua.

'Rainfall of this intensity can cause flash flooding, especially about low-lying areas such as streams, rivers or narrow valleys, and may also lead to slips.

'Driving conditions will also be hazardous with surface flooding and poor visibility in heavy rain.”

A severe thunderstorm watch means conditions are favourable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area. People in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and monitor for possible severe thunderstorm warnings, says MetService.

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings at metservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com.

You can also follow updates on MetService TV, on Facebook, @metservice and @MetServiceWARN on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com