Wild weather warning: Ex-tropical cyclone Fili heading towards the North Island, bringing gale force winds and storms

Severe gales and storms are on the cards as ex-cyclone Fili heads towards the eastern parts of the North Island on Tuesday and Wednesday.

MetService said the former cyclone lies over open water south of New Caledonia and is expected to remain slow moving over the weekend.

It should started heading towards New Zealand next week and pass across the North Island on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“There is still lots of uncertainty with the intensity and the position of the low as it moves towards New Zealand,” MetService said this morning.

Meteorologists are closely monitoring the situation and severe weather watches or warnings may be issued closer to the event.

WeatherWatch said the ex-cyclone has the potential to power back up into a storm, bringing severe gales and possibly heavy rain of more than 100mm or 150mm in some localised areas on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The low will be moving quickly over the North Island, with wind and rain shifting around throughout its passage, which means some areas may have quite low rainfall while others nearby have larger amounts, said WeatherWatch.