Flood room status
Flood Room is monitoring. For information on current river levels, flows and rainfall accumulations, please visit our Environmental Data Hub.
What the status levels mean
Flood Room is monitoring
Published on Monday, 22 December 2025 at 12pm
Situation
A front is forecast to move onto the North Island and may become slow moving. On Christmas Eve, a westerly flow is expected to cover New Zealand with embedded fronts affecting the North Island. There is low confidence that a Heavy Rain Warning will be required during the morning for western parts of the central North Island, including South Waikato, Tongariro National Park, and western Taupō.
Please keep up-to-date with the current MetService weather forecasts and messages from local civil defence. The MetService weather app will notify you of severe weather alerts for your area.
Visit our Environmental Data Hub for the latest river level and rainfall accumulations.
MetService forecast
A front is forecast to move onto the North Island and may become slow moving.
Heavy rain watch
Period: 21 hours from noon Tuesday, 23 December until 9am Wednesday, 24 December (Christmas Eve).
Area: Hills and ranges of Waikato and Waitomo near the coast from Raglan southwards.
Forecast: Periods of heavy rain, and amounts may approach warning criteria. Moderate chance of upgrading to a Warning.
Thunderstorms
There is minimal risk of thunderstorms or significant convection elsewhere during this time.
For information on preparing for and keeping safe during a storm, see the National Emergency Management Agency's Get Ready website.
Likely/potential Impacts
Rivers and lakes
Streams and rivers may rise rapidly. Surface flooding, slips, and difficult driving conditions possible.
Wind
There are no Wind Watches or Warnings in force for the Waikato region. The strong winds and catchments condition will likely increase tree fall susceptibility that may also trigger land instability.
Please keep up to date with information from your local power provider, the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and local civil defence.
Coastal impacts
Coastal impacts from the event are unlikely at this stage.
West Coast
A short-lived wave event is forecast for the West Coast, peaking around 01:00 on Thursday, 4 December. While peak wave heights have eased compared to previous forecasts, they remain large for this area. Currently, the peak coincides with low tide, so significant impacts are unlikely. However, caution is advised during high tides at 21:00 on Wednesday (3 Dec) and 09:00 on Thursday (4 Dec) in case the timing of the wave event changes.
WRC will continue to monitor this event closely for the West Coast.
Firth of Thames
There may be some wave overtopping along low-lying areas on the eastern coasts (Thames Coast) of the Firth of Thames. Water levels may approach the 2.0m alarm threshold at the Thames tide gauge during high tide today (18:00 Wed, 3 Dec) and tomorrow (07:00 Thurs, 4 Dec).
Coromandel East Coast
No issues are expected at this stage.
Land instability
Areas that would normally experience land instability may be affected by any rainfall about the hill country and ranges of the region. This may heighten the risk of landslip and people in these areas should remain vigilant for early warning signs of earth movement.
Road users should plan ahead and keep up to date with the latest from their local council and the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.
What we're doing
Waikato Regional Council flood and drainage schemes
Our local operations staff will remain on standby to monitor our flood and land drainage schemes.
Please note, drainage schemes will take time to return to the pre-event conditions post this event. Rest assured our local operations staff are monitoring.
Waikato Regional Council telemetry
Our telemetry network continues to provide real-time data on rainfall and river levels and is monitored 24/7 by our Regional Flood Response team. Visit our Environmental Data Hub for the latest river level and rainfall accumulations.
Next update
Flood Room will be updated before 1pm on Tuesday, 23 December or earlier if the situation changes.
New Zealand Flood Pics
New Zealand Flood Pics is a photographic archive of flooding for Aotearoa New Zealand which is currently hosted by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). It's free for anybody to upload or download flood photographs and your contributions are welcomed.
