Weather: Thousands of lightning strikes awaken Aucklanders during intense overnight storm
The city had been under a thunderstorm watch overnight between 10.30pm and 1.30am and residents have woken to more thunderstorms.
More than 5000 lightning strikes were recorded over the upper North Island and associated offshore areas from Sunday night. A lot of those strikes were in and around the Auckland region.
Niwa said the lightning strikes were recorded between midnight until 7am.
MetService meteorologist Michael Pawley said the thunderstorms would continue across West Auckland for some time this morning.
'We are seeing a region of instability over that area.
'There are definitely some sparks happening. These cells will probably move on through and on the afternoon to a few showers.'
MetService said the city can expect rain with squally thunderstorms, easing to showers this morning. Showers are expected to become few and far between by the afternoon.
Westerlies, gusting at 100km/h at first, are expected to ease towards the afternoon.
5000+ lightning strikes ⚡️ were observed over the upper North Island & adjacent waters from 12 am to 7 am Monday.
Why the thunderstorms?
One key reason is a strong temperature gradient (change in temp over distance).
Near 0°C over the central NI, 16-17° in the Far North. pic.twitter.com/fs7fOa7Tg5
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) June 8, 2025
MetService also reported a moderate risk of thunderstorms in Northland, Great Barrier Island, the Coromandel Peninsula, and northern and western parts of the Waikato.
It said the thunderstorms are expected to be accompanied by heavy rain, hail, and wind gusts of up to 100km/h.
Additionally, for western Waitomo and northern Taranaki, there is a low risk of thunderstorms throughout the period.
In a post online, Niwa suggested that the upper North Island may be in for more thunderstorms on Tuesday afternoon into the evening.
Parts of the North Island will also see showers today, particularly in the Bay of Plenty, with clouds spreading north this afternoon. For the upper North Island, showers are set to clear this afternoon.
As well, bitterly cold winter conditions greeted householders this morning.
Pawley said the coldest place in the country was Mt Hutt, which reached -8C overnight and -6C this morning.
'Manapōuri Airport also reached -5C,' he said.
Blenheim was sitting at -1C.
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In the North Island, Pahīatua was the coldest, at -3.6C.
Temperatures in Central Otago have continued to drop. Road snowfall warnings remain in place for Crown Range Road, and Porters Pass and Lewis Pass.
MetService head of weather news Heather Keats said the country is in for another unsettled week with a 'few messy features set to influence our weather'.
She said a strong, cold southerly will continue to affect most of the country today, with another chilly start in the South Island.
'It's fine and frosty for the west and north of the South Island with a few more showers left for the east.'
Keats said southerlies will also pick up this morning for Wellington and Kāpiti.
MetService said last night that another freezing night was in store for New Zealand as an icy-cold front swept across the country.
MetService meteorologist Surprise Mhlongo said temperatures will be lowest in Wānaka and Queenstown, with both towns expecting -1C.
Blenheim and Milford face 0C, while Christchurch will sit at 3C.
In the North Island, the lowest temperatures were forecast for Taupō at 0C.
The news comes after parts of New Zealand awoke yesterday to the coldest day so far this year.
Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch all had their coldest mornings at 4.5C, 2.9C and -2.8C.
The alpine village of Aoraki/Mt Cook recorded a temperature of -10C and locals say the area got as low as -13C overnight.
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