It may not be snowing in Auckland but the nation's largest city will not escape the inclement weather today.

Auckland is in for possibly thundery and heavy showers today, with the wet weather stretching from Northland to Waikato.

It was a mainly dry and cold evening overnight but showers will be frequent this afternoon and could include hail.

Between 4 and 6pm this evening 2.6mm of rain is expected to fall, with lunchtime also set to get wet with 1.1mm falling between 12 and 2pm.

Morning commuters will also feel the effects of the rain, with 1.5mm expected between 6 and 8am this morning.

Southerly winds will also whip the city, turning westerly for a time and getting stronger by the evening. Strong wind gusts of up to 110km/h are expected today, especially in the middle of the day between 10am and 2pm as a band of heavy rain moves through.

It will drop to a chilly 5C overnight, with a high of 11C expected, making it one of the coldest days of the year.

It's rained every day this month since June 30, making for 14 soggy days in a row.

MetService meteorologist Angus Hines said rain or showers weren't unusual in our biggest city at this time of year.

The long-term average for wet days in June and July is 19.

But this month had started very badly. Not only had it rained every day but there had been some significant totals, including 22.2mm on Thursday last week and 19.4mm on July 1.

"Accumulations are up to about 99mm and the average for the Auckland [this month] is 130mm and we're only 12 days in. So it's been pretty wet."

Over the past 31 days, it's rained on 23 days, according to MetService data.

MetService has issued a gale warning for the Manukau and Waitemata Harbours, with a southwest wind husting to 45 knots late this morning.

Morning commuters will also feel the effects of the rain, with 1.5mm expected between 6 and 8am this morning. (Photo / Peter Meecham)

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, showers and the cold temperatures are expected to continue into Friday but will clear just in time for the weekend.

Rain is expected on Friday morning but that will disappear by the afternoon, with the winds also expected to die out by then.

Saturday will be mostly fine, with a high of 13 but a bitterly cold low of 3C forecast.

Sunday will see the cloud increasing but the temperatures will also rise, a high of 14C expected with an overnight low of 8C.

Auckland's outlook for the rest of the week

Today:

A few showers, chance of being thundery with hail, frequent in afternoon. High of 11C, low of 5C.

Tomorrow:

Fine spells with a few showers, clearing by the evening. Fresh southerlies easing by the evening. High 13C, low 7C.

Saturday:

Mainly fine, with southerly winds dying out. High of 13C, low 3C.

Sunday:

Cloud increasing with light winds. High of 14C, low of 8C.