Severe weather watch issued for parts of the South Island

Thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds are on the way for parts of the South Island.

MetService has issued a severe weather watch for western and southern parts of the South Island from Sunday through to Monday.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected from Sunday through to Monday morning with a watch in place for headwaters of the Otago and Canterbury lakes and rivers south of Mt Cook with rainfall amounts possibly reaching warning criteria, a MetService spokesperson said.

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Heavy rain warnings are in place for Fiordland, with a lesser warning for Westland, from 9pm on Sunday to 4am on Monday.

Watches were in place for Southland and Clutha from 4pm on Sunday to 3am on Monday.

A strong wind watch is in place for Canterbury High Country from 10pm Sunday to 6am Monday with Northwest winds approaching severe gale at times.

The warnings come just days after the West Coast was hit with heavy rain, a thunderstorm, and almost 1500 lightning strikes with slips leaving inland highways covered with fallen trees and debris.

Meanwhile, mostly fine weather is being enjoyed across North Island with warm temperatures from the low to mid 20s.

Northland, Auckland and Waikato can expect long fine spells with isolated showers in the west. Taranaki and Taihape could also get light showers.