New Zealand weathers 'storm bomb'

The country is set to be hit by another storm tomorrow before the clean-up from the weekend's battering is completed.

The third storm to hit in a week will not be as severe as Saturday's but will cover a larger area, the Radio Network's head weather analyst Philip Duncan said.

"Saturday's storm was relatively small in size but big in severity, this next storm won't be as intense but will cover a much bigger area, affecting most of New Zealand," he said.

The bad weather is expected to set in late on Tuesday with heavy rain developing across northern and western regions.

"By Wednesday it should be peaking with torrential rain likely, that on top of the saturated soil following this weekend's storm, could escalate the chances of flooding".

Heavy rain is expected in Northland, Bay of Plenty, Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki, Manawatu, Nelson and West Coast while severe gales are likely in Manawatu, Wellington and Wairarapa.

Power was slowly being restored to thousands of homes today as the North Island recovers from the storm that in some areas was the worst in 30 years.