Continuing heavy rain has prompted local authorities to clear river mouths in parts of the South Island to prevent flooding. Snow is also predicted down to 500m in Canterbury, according to its regional council. Metservice has predicted heavy rain in the area until Wednesday. In the North Island, rain continues to fall in eastern Coromandel and east through the Bay of Plenty to Hawkes Bay. One river near Thames came within centimetres of reaching flood warning levels after surging more than 1.2m in three hours, but has stabilised after rain eased.

Metservice has not yet updated its weather warnings in place for much of the country since this morning. Environment Canterbury spokeswoman Frances Adank said at 2pm that heavy rain continued to fall near Timaru, and gravel was being cleared from a river mouth to prevent flooding. Another river near the town had been cleared this morning.

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Ms Adank said surface flooding had covered some roads.

In Waikato, the regional council, Environment Waikato, reported a 1.2m rise in Kauaeranga River, east of Thames, between 7.10am to 10.10am. More than 100mm of rain has fallen in its catchment in the past 24 hours. Emergency management duty officer Adam Munro said this morning that up to another 140mm could fall.

Thames-Coromandel emergency management officer Helen White said staff were keeping a close eye on the river but there had been no damage reported and rains were now easing.

Overnight, areas from Northland to the Bay of Plenty experienced heavy falls. At 8am, Whitianga had 54mm and Whangarei 40mm, said forecaster Richard Finnie. "Some stations on the hills would have had a lot more than that," he said.

Northland

Parts of Northland saw 39mls of rain falling in an hour. Northland Regional Council hydrologist Dale Hansen said the heaviest falls were west of Whangarei. He said the council believed the rivers were "able to handle it" but water levels on some of the larger rivers could take longer to rise. "Overall, the rain is desperately needed but not that heavy," Mr Hansen said.