We have the latest tracking of Vaianu as the subtropical cyclone moves into the upper North Island tonight, and across the North Island on Sunday. By Monday the storm will be quickly accelerating away from New Zealand, which is better news for the country.

In today’s video we track the expected timing of the storm, which areas are most impacted by wind and rain, general rainfall totals (keep up to date with MetService warnings and watches, as they are more localised to your region) and timing of wind and wind direction changes.

New Zealand’s mountains and ranges play a huge role in breaking up severe weather – sometimes making weather more extreme in some pockets, while others may have lighter winds and limited rainfall. A slight shift in tracking can make big changes to the weather here in NZ.

Areas most exposed to wind will be the top of the North Island and eastern side down to about Manawatu and Wairarapa but windy weather could affect other parts of the island and even the upper South Island. We’ll have more details on any impact to the upper South Island in our Sunday video.

Rain will be most intense near the centre of the storm, where the air pressure is lowest, as will be some of the most damaging winds.

Cyclones can wobble as they move, and that can affect both the future tracking and weather warnings. So keep up to date with our forecasts (they update hourly) – or view RuralWeather.co.nz or download the WeatherWatch free App to better view rain and wind graphs. Monitor the MetService warnings and watches as they will be updated again today or tonight and again across Sunday.