Cyclone Vaianu made landfall in Bay of Plenty this afternoon and is now moving into Hawke’s Bay, with the centre offshore from the North Island by around sunset.

Based on radar and satellite imagery the storm made landfall near Maketu (2pm). Landfall is when the centre of the storm tracks over land. The fast movement of Vaianu means landfall won’t weaken the storm much today, or overnight. But severe weather will shift to other parts of NZ as the storm quickly tracks south-east, followed by gale westerlies for a time, before quickly easing on Monday.

5pm: 🌀#CycloneVaianu is losing that cyclonic look as it zips over the North Island.

↘️Vaianu's centre is now tracking into Hawke's Bay.

⚠️Severe weather continues in places across the NI & upper SI.

🚀In 24 hours it will be 1400km south-east of Hawke's Bay. Fast tracking! pic.twitter.com/nWxN7nyYSs

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 12, 2026

#Breaking: Based on radar & satellite it appears #CycloneVaianu has made landfall in the Bay of Plenty, roughly between Maketu & Matatā this hour (2pm).
Landfall is when the centre of the storm tracks over land. The fast movement of #Vaianu means landfall won't weaken it much. pic.twitter.com/2ly6c3j5ta

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) April 12, 2026

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Earlier update:
Tracking of Cyclone Vaianu has shifted slightly eastwards today, reducing some severe weather in the west of the North Island but may be more intense now for the eastern BOP, East Cape and other parts of the north-eastern North Island.

Vaianu is expected to make landfall this afternoon in BOP and as it tracks over the North Island a strong to gale westerly change moves in behind it for northern and western parts of the North Island for a time, then that will spread east, replacing NE gales in eastern areas with NW gales tonight.

Heavy rain is also affecting the top of the South Island, around Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough with rain expected to continue today before easing, and more heavy rain and showers around parts of the North Island over the coming 24 hours.

By Monday daytime Vaianu’s centre will be east of NZ and by the end of Monday the storm is gone.

Keep up to date with MetService warnings and watches incase there are any further changes to the forecast today. The rain radar will be the most effective way to track the storm’s progress in real time today.