Weather: Watches, warnings in place for central and southern parts of North Island

Severe gales and heavy falls are set to lash central and southern parts of the North Island on Thursday.

MetService says up to 130 millimetres of rain could fall over the next 20 hours in the northern Hawke's Bay ranges - which is under an Orange rain warning.

A yellow watch is in place for Tairawhiti south of Gisborne city for the same time period.

An Orange wind warning is in place in Taranaki, and in the Marlborough Sounds, until three o'clock this afternoon where southerlies could gust up to 120-kilometres an hour.

Yellow wind watches are in place in Wellington, Kapiti Coast, and coastal Hawke's Bay until three o'clock this afternoon, and around Taupo until six o'clock tonight.

See how the morning unfolded: