Thousands of Auckland households face an hours-long wait for their power to be reconnected, after strong winds battered the city overnight.

More than 1000 homes were without electricity on Wednesday night, but the number swelled early on Thursday morning, due to what Vector called a "partial feeder fault", affecting houses from Mangawhai to Papakura.

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PETER MEECHAM/ FAIRFAX MEDIA High winds and possible thunderstorms are predicted for parts of the country.

About 1189 residents in Murrays Bay and 488 in Mairangi Bay on the North Shore shouldn't expect power to be restored before 11.30am Vector's website said, while power was expected to be restored to other areas earlier.

About 1300 Vector customers on Waiheke Island, and a similar number in Whangateau, north of the city, were in the dark on Thursday morning, alongside more than 900 in each of Te Atatu, Takapuna, Epsom and Kawakawa.

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@FirecommNZ A large tree blocking McEntee Rd in Waitakere was not expected to be cleared until early Thursday evening.

In Mt Wellington, 727 were without power, as were 563 in Titirangi, 836 in Warkworth, 713 in Waiwere and 491 in Kaukapakapa.

Other parts of the region, including Oratia, Avondale, Waitakere, Helensville, Te Hana and Mangawhai reported more than 200 outages, while smaller numbers of households were without power in East Tamaki, Woodhill Forest, Taupaki, Snells Beach, Matakana and Port Albert.

By Thursday afternoon power had been restored to most houses with about 1500 remaining disconnected.

MetService MetService national weather forecast Wednesday 23rd March.

Winds hammered the city overnight, and Aucklanders were warned to secure outdoor items and drive with caution through the blustery winds and heavy rain, which were building shortly after 7pm on Wednesday.

Top Energy spokeswoman Philippa White said there had also been extremely rough winds in Northland overnight that knocked out power to about 6000 homes.

The worst affected areas were the rural area around Kaitaia, Kaikohe, Moerewa and Kawakawa.

Currently about 1000 homes remained without power and line crews were out working hard to ensure they were reconnected, she said.

EMERGENCY SERVICES KEPT BUSY

Auckland region fire crews have had a busy night attending more than 45 storm related callouts and a reported 70 including Northland.

Fire Service shift manager Dallas Ramsay said callouts mostly involved downed power lines and trees and securing roofs. No flood related incidents have been reported, she said.

Police have been assisting with some fire service callouts.

A large tree blocked McEntee Rd in Waitakere and was no expected to be cleared until Thursday evening.

BAD WEATHER SET TO LAST TODAYSevere weather could continue across the entire Auckland region from Wednesday evening through to Thursday afternoon, Metservice spokesman Ciaran Doolin said.

The predicted high winds and heavy rain could cause flooding and damage, and disrupt traffic.

Rain was expected to reach its heaviest around 5am on Thursday, when downpours of 25 to 40mm or more were possible.

The storm was also due to coincide with high tide, which could cause traffic disruption on coastal roads like Tamaki Drive, Davis said. Thursday morning commuters might need to plan alternate routes into the city.

Strong wind and heavy rain today. You can get the latest Warnings and Watch at https://t.co/NQBonD4ziz ^Lisa pic.twitter.com/YRmQEeWcNQ — MetService (@MetService) March 23, 2016

Strong winds could bring down powerlines and trees, and localised slips could also occur, Auckland Council said.

MetService also warned stormy weather could bring severe thunderstorms to Coromandel, Taranaki, and western Bay of Plenty on Thursday morning, before moving east to Gisborne in the afternoon.

Those areas could see rainfall of 25-40mm an hour or more, with the potential for surface or flash flooding, as well as slips and hazardous driving conditions, MetService said.

Heavy rain warnings were also issued for Nelson, Buller and Westland, Marlborough northwest if the Awatere River, Taranaki, the Bay of Plenty, the Coromandel Peninsula and Northland.

The North Island is predicted to face the worst of the winds, with strong wind warnings in place for Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki and Wanganui. The high winds were expected to ease by Thursday morning.