Former Cyclone Gita is expected to make landfall on Tuesday in the north of New Zealand's South Island and the south of the North Island, with heavy rain and storm surges expected.

The storm - which had been classified as a Topical Cyclone when it devastated Tonga last week - is also expected to bring severe gales on Tuesday afternoon.

The worst affected areas are likely to be Taranaki, the Kāpiti Coast, the Marlborough Sounds, Nelson, the West Coast, and the east coast as far down as Canterbury, RadioNZ reported.

Nelson is one of New Zealand's major apple-growing areas.

Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn was reportedly expecting storm surges and more than 100mm of rain, in an area already struggling to clean up damage from cyclone Fehi earlier this month.

Brand new track map has path slightly to the north of previous track. #CycloneGita Warnings and Watches still in place https://t.co/qHyE5zhh6X ^RK pic.twitter.com/lUP3Zeqx9j

— MetService (@MetService) February 19, 2018

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