Late August 2025 weather warnings

The story so far

A large low in the Southern Ocean was forecast to bring heavy rain and strong winds, with conditions turning wet and windy from Wednesday after a fine start to the week.^{26 Aug 2025} MetService warned of heavy, persistent and thundery weather across the South Island, and strong winds caused power outages for thousands of Central Otago customers, though most had power restored.^{28 Aug 2025} MetService issued multiple strong wind watches and warnings across the North Island for thunderstorms, hail and heavy rain, with southwest gales forecast for Sunday and snowfall warnings for southern highways.^{29 Aug 2025} An orange strong wind warning was issued for Auckland, Great Barrier Island and the Coromandel Peninsula for Sunday afternoon, with gusts possibly reaching 120km/h, and heavy snow was expected in the deep south.^{30 Aug 2025}

Latest

Firefighters responded to at least 114 weather-related callouts across Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty after overnight strong winds and heavy rain.^{1 Sep 2025}

What's next

MetService forecast an orange strong wind warning for Auckland, Great Barrier Island and the Coromandel Peninsula for Sunday afternoon.^{30 Aug 2025} Showers and strong northerly winds were forecast to continue through the end of August.^{28 Aug 2025}

Key moments

1. 26 Aug 2025Forecast of a large Southern Ocean low bringing wet, windy weather from Wednesday
2. 28 Aug 2025Heavy, thundery rain and strong winds cause Central Otago power outages
3. 29 Aug 2025Multiple strong wind watches and warnings issued across the North Island
4. 30 Aug 2025Orange strong wind warning issued for Auckland and Coromandel for Sunday
5. 1 Sep 2025Overnight storm brings at least 114 weather-related callouts to firefighters

Written from the stories below; each sentence links to its sources.