Flooding in Kaeo, Northland on Monday morning. [Source: 1News]

Severe weather warnings are in place for many parts of the country with heavy rain forecast.

A front is forecast to move slowly southwards over northern and central New Zealand today and Tuesday, MetService said in a statement.

“This front is preceded by a broad band of rain, with some heavy falls, and east to northeast gales.”

“An associated low to the west of the upper North Island should also move slowly southwards today and Tuesday, then weaken and cross the South Island during Wednesday.

A heavy rain warning is in place for Northland until 10pm today (Monday).

Heavy rain warnings are also in place for Auckland and Great Barrier Island, the Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, Mount Taranaki and the Tasman region until Tuesday morning.

For Canterbury, North Otago and Dunedin, heavy rain warnings are in place from Tuesday morning through until Wednesday morning.

“People are advised to keep up to date with the latest forecasts in case any changes are made, or further areas are added”, Metservice said.

The rain has already been felt in upper parts of the country, with flooding in Northland on Monday morning.

Strong wind warnings are also in place for Northland and Auckland.