Thunderstorms are expected to be widespread Thursday across the South Island’s West Coast while western parts of the North Island may also be in for a rumble.

The free and live Lightning Tracker at WeatherWatch.co.nz has detected an increase in thunderstorms in the past couple of hours to the west of New Zealand.

As of 8:30pm 460 strikes had been detected in the past 60 minutes mostly west of Taranaki and the West Coast – double the amount just 45 minutes ago. 

International lightning trackers showed the thunderstorms were still well out to sea but are expected to come onshore in the South Island during Thursday morning and may move into Taranaki and coastal Waikato during Thursday night or Friday morning.

WeatherWatch.co.nz says it’s too early to be sure how far north the thunderstorms will go but the system does have the potential to push them as far north as Northland although it does rate the chances as “low” at this stage.

Check back for our coverage of this system during Thursday.