The Auckland Harbor Bridge was closed for the third time today due to severe weather affecting parts of the North Island.

And further south in the North Island, some residents in New Plymouth and other parts of Taranaki are experiencing a few chilly hours due to power outages.

Waka Kotahi has asked residents to use the Western Ring Road SH16/SH18 instead, before the bridge is reopened to traffic tonight. Buses on affected routes have been asked to pull over and wait.

The bridge had previously been closed twice due to high winds, with a gust of up to 143km/h west of the city by midday.

This afternoon, the restrictions caused a large amount of traffic on the northbound South Freeway, with heavy traffic extending from Sylvia Park shopping center all the way to the bridge.

Auckland Transport said gusts of up to 91km/h had blown over the bridge, prompting it to close temporarily.

Buses on the route at the time were told to pull over and wait for the bridge to reopen, but AT warned that if winds picked up, the bridge could close again.

In Taranaki tonight, thousands of homes lost power as severe weather hit the area; even strong winds.

The power outages for some parts of the region came about as MetService forecast temperatures in New Plymouth overnight to be 13 degrees Celsius.

Kiwis woke up today to even wilder weather with heavy rain and strong winds blowing across the North Island.

Aucklanders have been told there will be heavy rain, possibly heavy rain and gusts of up to 90 km/h in exposed places with temperatures as high as 18 degrees Celsius, while MetService has put the area under alert. strong wind.

Hauraki Gulf Weather tweeted that the weather system produced a gust of wind in Manukau Heads at 143 km/h or 77 knots.

Weather forecasters had previously predicted destructive gusts of up to 110km/h, while strong wind gauges were in place for nearly the entire North Island.

MetService said strong winds could cause power cuts in Northland, Auckland and Waikato, with the strongest winds on the west coasts likely to topple trees.

The cyclone-torn west coast settlements of Auckland, in particular, are well suited to strong winds.

Waka Kotahi said motorists should heed all travel warnings.

“High-walled vehicle drivers and motorcyclists should avoid the bridge and use the western ring road on Highways 16 and 18.”

At Hawke’s Bay, the High Wind Warning has been upgraded to a High Wind Warning, with gusts and gusts of up to 120 km/h.

The risk of strong wind gusts is increased due to wet soil from recent cataclysms, said the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa).

MetService says winds will also particularly impact Muriwai, Piha, Karekare and the recently reopened Awhitu peninsula – all of which were hit hard by Hurricane Gabrielle in February.

Violent winds and showers brought by an intense, moisture-laden low-pressure system have swept across the country from the Tasman Sea since Thursday.

MetService says storms can produce huge ocean waves around northern parts of the country, with waves as high as 5 meters already recorded today and “bigger waves to come”. “.

“Please pay more attention to the coast. Keep an eye on these wind gauges and warnings over the weekend,” the forecaster said.

MetService said the low-pressure system was seen on satellite imagery surrounded by a “koru cloud” today.

Watch out for strong winds in Northland from 3pm to 9am on Sunday.

In western and central Waikato and Waitomo, the clocks are set from midday Saturday until 3 a.m. Sunday.

Meanwhile, for the Bay of Plenty and east of Waikato, the strong wind warning will expire at 3pm on Friday, but for the eastern Bay of Plenty, the heavy rain warning remains in place.

In Taumaranui, Taupō, Taihape, Whanganui and Manawatū, the clock will start at 6 p.m. Saturday and run until 9 a.m. Sunday.

A clock in Taranaki starts at 8pm today and lasts until 9pm on Sunday.

A dual strong wind warning and heavy rain warning for Gisborne begins at 8am on Friday. The guard will end at 7pm today and the rain warning will end at 6pm.

Up to 90 mm of rain is forecast to fall across the ranges, along with local downpours accompanied by thunderstorms. MetService has warned of rapidly rising rivers and streams, flash floods and landslides.

Further south, in Tasman west of Motueka, a heavy rain fell for 31 hours from 8 a.m. yesterday to 3 p.m. today. Up to 160 mm of rain may fall at that time.

Landslides are possible there, along with surface flooding due to heavy rainfall during thunderstorms. Rainfall up to 25 mm is possible in an hour.

MetService said the weather should improve on Sunday but occasional showers are possible on the west side of both islands until “at least” early next week.