Heavy rain, strong winds forecast for Northland and parts of South Island

Spring weather 'with some oomph' for school holidays

1News weather presenter Dan Corbett said Kiwis should prepare for a week of "ups and downs", with rain, wind and snow shoehorned between brief spells of sunshine.

'Cloud shield' threatens eclipse views, but one city could get lucky

The partial solar eclipse will begin before sunrise and reach its peak around 7am, with the moon covering up to 70% of the sun in parts of the lower South Island.

Strong winds hit Canterbury overnight, power outages reported

Power is out to pockets of the central and lower South Island.

Canterbury residents urged to prepare ahead of 'dangerous' winds

Civil Defense warned of destructive 150km/h gusts as severe weather threatens to batter much of the South Island and lower North.