Cyclone Gabrielle: 'Please make sure you're prepared' - Prime Minister Chris Hipkins

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says central and local government had been working closely together on the cyclone response and is urging people to take the situation seriously.

The prime minister has talked to media after visiting the operations centre of Auckland Transport in Takapuna.

Watch it live here:

Hipkins said central and local government had been working on the response and intended working in any lessons learned from the flooding two weeks ago.

Power outages have affected people in Northland and Auckland.

Hipkins said electricity suppliers will work very hard to re-connect consumers if power is cut.

The prime minister said schools will make their decisions on opening based on the guidance they receive, but he did not want to see children go if there was a risk they will end up being "marooned" there.

In response to a question on the supply of information from transport agencies, he said he was "absolutely confident based on the briefings we've just had that there will be a 24/7 transport response".

He said his advice for anybody in the affected regions was to have a go bag ready, make sure you have a destination in mind if you have to evacuate, and follow the advice from the authorities.

Hipkins appealed to people to shop sensibly and said supermarkets will be staying open unless a particular individual one is affected and needed to close, so people should shop "for a couple of days [supplies], not a couple of months".

The prime minister wrapped up his media conference by urging people to take the situation seriously.

"We do expect severe weather is on the way so please make sure you're prepared, make sure you have your preparations in place, if you have to stay put for a period of time or if you have to evacuate."

Cyclone Gabrielle has made landfall in northern parts of Aotearoa on Friday morning, with red rain and wind warnings are in place in several regions until Tuesday.