An active trough of low pressure with associated cloud and rain bands continues to affect most parts of the country, especially in the western and central divisions.

Fiji Meteorological Services Acting Director Bipen Prakash says they have noted a lot of rainfall over Vitilevu in the past couple of hours.

He adds that there are already reports of flooding in the western and central divisions.

According to the acting director, rainfall is expected to continue into the afternoon, and the next high tide is at around 6:00 pm.

“I would like to emphasize that the public has to be quite vigilant about this next high tide in the evening, especially people who are living in flood-prone areas. You have to be mindful of this high tide, which should elevate the river levels.”

He adds that river levels are quite high already, and with the expected rainfall and the high tide later in the evening, there can potentially be severe flooding around the country.

He has emphasized that while the Northern Division is experiencing light showers at present, these rain bands are expected to drift towards the Northern Division later this afternoon or evening into the night.

He adds that the weather should start to ease later tonight in the western division.