Bridal shower as weather soaks wedding

CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post

BRIDAL SHOWER: It was more wet wedding than white wedding for newlyweds Daniel and Franchesca Blank as downpours turned the lower North Island from sunny to soggy at the weekend.

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It was more wet wedding than white wedding for newlyweds Daniel and Franchesca Blank as downpours turned the lower North Island from sunny to soggy.

The couple, both 23 from Pukerua Bay, were nearing the end of a session of outdoor photographs at Wellington's Botanic Gardens when Saturday's threatening skies let loose.

Heavy rain is forecast to continue falling till late this afternoon, with MetService warning of possible flooding in the lower North Island.

"We got a couple of dry ones [pictures] and couple of rainy ones, but we just went with how the weather turned out," Mr Blank said.

Their next stop is a honeymoon in Adelaide, a city that would welcome some rainfall, but continues to swelter in 30-plus-degree temperatures.

Wellington's prolonged spell of dry weather was broken when the city received 81 millimetres of rainfall in 12 hours from 4pm on Saturday. Up to 120mm fell in parts of the Tararua Range.

Greater Wellington regional council will decide this morning if the weekend's rain was enough to lift a residential sprinkler ban.

Though it was wet, it was not cold - temperatures hovered between the high teens and 20 degrees.

MetService forecaster Ian Miller said the rain was caused by a slow-moving front that had stalled over an area covering the South Taranaki Bight, Wairarapa and Wellington. It was expected a further 30mm to 50mm would be dumped over Wellington by late today.

Hawke's Bay stayed dry, while 8mm of rain fell around Wairarapa, with a further 25mm expected to fall by tonight.

Federated Farmers president Charlie Pedersen said the weekend rain was patchy at best.

Farmers needed more rain than was forecast if the drought was to be broken.

MetService said the weather was likely to be unsettled this week, but warm, dry conditions would return by Thursday,  offering little relief for parched Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa.