Weather: Heavy rain in Auckland, Northland, warnings for Coromandel, Bay of Plenty

It has been a wet start to the day for much of the upper North Island, with heavy rain pelting Auckland, Northland and Great Barrier.

Conditions are not likely to ease until this evening, with Auckland set to get another drenching at midday and again around 3pm.

A heavy rain warning has been issued for the Coromandel Peninsula from 8am to 8pm, as well as the Bay of Plenty, west of Kawerau, from 2pm to 3am on Thursday, as a low over the Tasman Sea moves closer to New Zealand.

MetService is forecasting up to 120 millimetres of rain.

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A peak of up to 40 millimetres per hour is "likely" in localised downpours, with thunderstorms also possible.

A heavy rain watch is in place for eastern Northland, south of the Karikari Peninsula, from 3am to 3pm, and in Auckland and Great Barrier Island until 6pm. The watch remains in place for inland parts of the Tasman District, west of Motueka, from 11am Wednesday morning to midnight.

MetService meteorologist John Law said the weather was the result of low pressure pushing rain across from Northland west to the Bay of Plenty, while another front was moving up the country from the South Island - reintroducing some colder air.

He told RNZ on Tuesday that the eastern coast of the Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty would likely get the most rain.

The cold air returned the risk of some snowfall over the higher mountain passes in the South Island, Law added.

MetService have issued a road snowfall warning for Lewis Pass or State Highway 7, Porters Pass or State Highway 73, and Milford Road or State Highway 94, beginning from 11am on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has also warned of "active weather" on Wednesday.