Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and "exposed parts" of the South Island are expected to be worst-hit by heavy rain and strong winds today.

MetService meteorologist Jessie Owen told 1News Bay of Plenty in particular will be hard-hit over the next few days.

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The region is expected to cop "persistent heavy rain" for at least three days, Owen said. An orange heavy rain warning is now in place for Bay of Plenty west of Whakatāne and north of Rotorua until midnight tomorrow.

She said Tauranga had seen gusts of 68km/h overnight, while a station in Waihi had recorded 71.8mm of rain.

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The Coromandel Peninsula is under the same warning until 12pm tomorrow and Owen said the forecaster is expecting "some heavier rain for them as well".

Owen said 197.5mm had been recorded at the Pinnacles since 9pm last night, while Whangamatā had recorded 122.6mm and Whitiangi 68.2mm. Gusts of 90km/h had been recorded in Coromandel.

Both Coromandel and the western Bay of Plenty to Taranaki and Taihape are under a strong wind watch until 3pm today.

Meanwhile, "exposed parts" of the South Island - Tasman northwest of Motueka, the Richmond and Bryant ranges, Rai Valley and Marlborough Sounds, and the Westland ranges - will also be hard-hit.

An orange heavy rain warning is in place for these areas until 12pm tomorrow.

Some weather stations in Tasman had seen 51mm of rain, while others were sitting at 20-30mm so far, Owen said. Westland had seen 10-15mm of rain so far.

Owen said Bay of Plenty, Tasman and Westland ranges were the places likely to see the heaviest rainfall today.

She also described today's weather as "a wet one for pretty much the whole country", with the northeast flow responsible now reaching the entire country.

In good news for soggy Northland and Auckland, Owen said the regions were through the heaviest rain.

Kaikohe had seen 107.2mm of rain fall between 9pm yesterday and 6am today, while northern parts of Auckland "got the worst of the rain" with 60-70mm recorded.

In terms of winds, gusts up to 115km/h were recorded in Northland, while Auckland saw 100km/h gusts.

Waikato saw gusts in some places of 80km/h, while New Plymouth saw 52km/h gusts.

Auckland including Great Barrier Island is under a heavy rain watch until 9am tomorrow and a strong wind watch until 6pm today.

Waikato is under a strong wind watch until 3pm today, while northern Taranaki west of Matau is under a heavy rain watch until 6pm tomorrow.

Northland is no longer covered by any weather watches or warnings.

People are advised to stay up to date with the latest forecasts on the MetService website.