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After a series of rain and wind watches for the North Island, Kiwis are being urged to prepare ahead of Cyclone Vaianu’s arrival later this week. Expected to hit New Zealand shores on Sunday, MetService has warned of an increased risk of power outages, flooding and road closures as the tropical system bears down on the upper parts of the country. The forecasters have issued a strong wind watch for the North Island based on the Category 3 cyclone’s current trajectory. MetService meteorologist Katie Lyons told the Herald it is too early to predict where the storm’s high winds and heavy rain will be the most severe. “It does look at the moment like the whole of the North Island will see impacts and therefore we’ve got a strong wind watch over the entirety of the North Island.” Some areas of the country are likely to be upgraded to orange or even red warnings as the track of the cyclone becomes clearer, with heavy rain watches added closer to the time. MetService is urging people to keep up to date with the latest forecasts and prepare to follow the advice of local authorities. Civil Defence has already advised Kiwis to make a plan for their whānau, as has Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who yesterday said people in the North Island should “stock up, get supplies and tie things down”. Luxon told reporters that Cyclone Vaianu is a potentially “damaging and significant event” for the country, with government agencies set to be “on full notice”. CYCLONE VAIANU ⚠️Cyclone Vaianu is likely to move across the North Island on Sunday, 12 April. If it does, it will bring damaging, potentially life-threatening winds. However, uncertainty remains in the cyclone's exact track, so the locations of the most severe winds are… pic.twitter.com/fiwppf7GHs— MetService NZ (@MetService) April 8, 2026 But Kiwis will have a temporary respite from wet, wild and muggy conditions today as a front moves east off the North Island. “We do have a bit more of a settled period, still muggy unfortunately, but a bit more of a settled period until this weekend,” Lyons said. MetService has issued a heavy rain watch for the Bay of Plenty and areas east of Lake Taupō, warning periods of heavy rain and localised downpours are possible overnight, before easing tomorrow. While the rain is set to clear, warm and humid air will be sticking around until after the weekend as the tropical cyclone approaches our coast. “The maximums during the day are not actually that impressive, but it’s the fact that the temperatures aren’t falling at all if much overnight, and it’s just that general sticky uncomfortable feel,” Lyons said. In the south, things are fining up, with “primo” weather today and tomorrow across the lower island as showers ease off and clear out. A front will then bring some showers to Fiordland and Southland on Saturday, continuing to shift across the far south and West Coast on Sunday. While it’s still far out, Lyons said Otago and Canterbury might be a haven from the bad weather.
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