Weather alerts are issued when the country is hit by bad or severe weather, but what do red, orange and yellow alerts actually mean?
How serious does weather need to be before a warning or a watch is issued? And how do you know when a warning is in place?
Here's all the info you need.
The low-down on watches and warnings
MetService uses a three-tier, colour-coded warning system to alert New Zealanders when severe weather is on its way.
Weather watches are represented by the colour yellow, while weather warnings are generally orange. Red warnings are issued when there is extreme weather forecast which is likely to have a considerable impact.
The World Meteorological Organisation - of which New Zealand is a member - recommen
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