Flood room

Flood room status

Flood room - deactivated

Flood Room is deactivated. For information on current river levels, flows and rainfall accumulations, please visit our Environmental Data Hub.

What the status levels mean

Status: The weather is looking good and there are no risks of severe weather in the immediate forecast.

Action: Members of the Regional Flood Response team (including engineers, rivers and drainage operations, planning, communications and emergency management) continue their day jobs as part of their everyday mahi at Waikato Regional Council. A Regional Flood Coordinator and Regional Flood Liaison Officer are on duty 24 hours a day, maintaining an overview of river levels, weather patterns and forecasts affecting the Waikato.
Status: MetService has issued severe weather alerts or the weather forecast and/or catchment conditions could impact our schemes and/or the community.

Action: A Regional Flood Coordinator and Regional Flood Liaison Officer maintain an overview of river levels, weather patterns and forecasts affecting the Waikato. They will closely monitor the weather situation, environmental data and provide information to supporting agencies (such as civil defence, local councils and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi) on potential impacts to assist with their planning and response.
Status: The weather is severe and there is a high risk of flooding and/or related natural hazards.

Action: Waikato Regional Council's flood response is scaled up with additional staff and resources deployed in the field, as well as in the office to manage flood schemes and provide information to civil defence and other agencies.

The Flood Room is deactivated

Published at 4pm on Friday, 1 August 2025

Situation

There are no severe weather watches, warnings or events affecting the Waikato region.

However, following the earthquake off Russia on Wednesday (30 July), there may still be strong and unusual currents and these may continue until Monday. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) advises the New Zealand public to exercise caution in and around the ocean and estuaries over the weekend.

Meanwhile, rivers and water courses are receding following heavy rain in parts of the region during the week. With catchments across the Waikato extremely saturated, any localised rain will cause water courses to rise quickly.

Please keep up-to-date with the current MetService weather forecasts and messages from local civil defence.

Visit our Environmental Data Hub for the latest river level and rainfall accumulations.

MetService forecast

Changes to the weather can occur quickly, so please keep up-to-date with the latest forecasts. For national severe weather information, MetService is New Zealand’s only authorised provider of Severe Weather Alerts.

There are no severe weather alerts for the Waikato region.

Severe Thunderstorms

There are no Thunderstorm Watches or Warnings for the Waikato region. However, there is a possibility severe thunderstorm watches or warnings may be issued by MetService at short notice so please be alert for and act on these without hesitation – do not wait for further analysis by Waikato Regional Council.

For information preparing for and keeping safe during a storm, see the National Emergency Management Agency's Get Ready website.

Likely/potential Impacts

Rivers and lakes

There are no weather events affecting the Waikato region; however, if there has been recent rainfall some streams and rivers may be above expected normal levels for 36-48 hours after the event.

With saturated catchments across the Waikato region, any further rain will flow off the catchments and cause water courses to rise quickly. As well as rising water courses and surface flooding, landslide susceptibility will also increase in some areas.

Wind

There are no Wind Watches of Warnings in force for the Waikato region. Please keep up to date with information from your local power provider, the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and local civil defence.

Coastal

Please be aware of strong and unusual currents until Monday.

Land instability

Areas that would normally experience land instability may be affected by any localised downpours that develop about the hill country and ranges of the region. 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

All infrastructure is working as it should. Local flood response staff continue to monitor forecasts to ensure a timely response, should it be required.

Please note, drainage schemes will take time to return to the pre-event conditions.

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 Live will be updated if conditions change or weather alerts impacting our region are issued.

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.

Go to New Zealand Flood Pics