A forecaster is warning the top of the North Island to brace for heavy downpours, strong winds and potential flooding later this week.

Niwa meteorologist Ben Noll said a hybrid low-pressure system - made up of one which is currently sitting west of Tasmania and another by the Solomon Islands which will contribute tropical moisture into the system - will first hit the South Island tomorrow before the North Island on Thursday.

“It does look like the weather is going to go downhill as we go into Wednesday and then especially Thursday,” said Noll.

The worst of the weather is expected to strike as the Fifa Women’s World Cup gets underway.

MetService’s rain radar shows rain intensifying in Auckland from around 9pm on Thursday night - just two hours after New Zealand and Norway kick-off in the opening match of the tournament.

Heavy rain is first expected to strike Northland on Thursday evening before moving into Auckland and, potentially, the Coromandel Peninsula.

“The intensity of the rain could be enough to cause some localised, surface flooding for the likes of Northland and maybe northern Auckland,” said Noll.

“The winds will also be quite strong, I think for especially east coast areas of Northland and northern Auckland.”

Noll said the rest of the North Island will be blustery on Friday.

The silver lining was that the bad weather would begin to settle on the weekend for most but with some rain potentially lingering across eastern areas of the North Island.

Southland, Otago and Canterbury can expect some rain and lower-level snowfall from tomorrow.

Heavy rain watches have been issued for Fiordland from midday tomorrow through to 3am on Thursday and for Westland, south of the glaciers, from 9pm tomorrow to 6am on Thursday.

Snowfall in Southland and Otago could reach as low as 300m.

“That is certainly going to be impacting some towns across the inland portions of those of those regions,” said Noll.

“Some snow could accumulate on the roadways in those regions, especially in the pass roads.”

Noll advised motorists to be mindful of the conditions.