Missing Auckland 6-year-old spent the night with people known to his family - police

Police searched for a missing 6 year-old boy overnight only to find in the morning that he was with people known to the family.

There were grave concerns for the boy who went missing from his home on Tuesday evening, after an argument with his family.

When he didn't return home at 7pm, his grandmother reported him missing.

The boy was wearing just a t-shirt, track pants and no shoes.

MetService data showed overnight temperatures in the area dropped as low as 4.6 degrees celsius.

A police spokesperson said police staff searched for the boy overnight.

At 6.39am police put out a media release asking the public to report any sightings of the boy.

Six minutes later police sent out another release to say the boy had been found safe and well.

A police spokesperson confirmed the boy had been with people known to the family overnight but police only learned of that in the morning.