Cyclone Gabrielle is finally starting to depart from New Zealand, says WeatherWatch.co.nz

Some lingering wind and rain for the southern and eastern sides of the North Island today, and the north eastern side of the South Island - but the storm is slowly tracking away from the North Island and is weakening at the same time too, says a spokesperson for the weather organisation.

"A few heavy downpours and isolated thunderstorms will develop around the upper North Island in the coming days - but they don't look overly widespread.

"Australia is fairly settled although Cairns and other parts of Queensland look especially wet in the coming 5 days.

"We take a look at where Gabrielle goes, where the next high pressure zone is - plus and update on the tropics with low pressure zones around Fiji and Tonga worth monitoring (but posing no threat to NZ at this stage)."

Watch WeatherWatch's latest weather forecast above.