More on the way: Auckland recovers after record rain

Recovery efforts continue in New Zealand after record-breaking rainfall across the north island over the past week.

In Auckland, January saw a monthly record for rain with precipitation levels up 769% from the long-term average in places and last Friday becoming the city's wettest day ever.

The resulting flooding and damages resulted in the country’s finance minister declaring the rainfall as the ‘biggest non-earthquake event’ in history for the country’s insurance companies.

Funding of $700,000 NZD was announced on Thursday by the government to help those in flood-affected areas. More than 5,000 properties have been impacted across Auckland.

The deluge of rain was heightened by humid conditions, La Niña, and a marine heatwave.

The humid and warm conditions resulted in slow-moving low-pressure systems supercharged by the coincidental combination of heightening factors.

Further rainfall is set to spread across New Zealand this weekend with Auckland again seeing bouts of heavy rain on Sunday.

Despite the torrential rain in the north, southern regions of New Zealand have seen little rain and a temperature of 28.7C in Westport marked a record high in the South Island city.

The arrival of El Niño in the coming months will be appreciated by those struggling with the flooding. This phenomenon typically brings drier, warmer weather to Australia and New Zealand.