Thank you for joining 1News for updates on Sunday's wild weather from around the country. For those who may have missed it, catch up on our updates below:
Power was cut, highways were shut and fallen trees damaged property. (Source: 1News)
What you need to know:
- Flights have been disrupted with Air New Zealand saying it has cancelled over a hundred
- Auckland Harbour Bridge has reopened after being closed earlier due to high winds
- Slips and flooding in parts of the North Island
- Loss of power in parts of the country, resulting in some loss of cell phone service
7.05pm A tree has fallen and damaged power lines along State Highway 29, near Cambridge.
Police said the road is expected to be closed for some time and motorists are asked to avoid the area.
6.10pm Footage of a falling tree narrowly missing a moving car in Palmerston North has emerged online:
The incident was caught on a security camera. (Source: Supplied)
4.25pm Strong winds in Palmerston North have seen a tree uprooted.
3.58pm MetService rain radar imagery shows how the ex-tropical Cyclone Dovi passed over New Zealand between 10am and 3pm on Sunday.
3.52pm Waka Kotahi NZTA says congestion has now cleared on State Highway 18 and the Upper Harbour Motorway as Auckland's Harbour Bridge has re-opened, relinking the North Shore with central Auckland.
3.43pm MetService is forecasting colder and less-humid weather in the North Island on Monday. Temperatures in the South Island will also be warmer than Sunday.
3.36pm Disrupted transport services are beginning to return to normal in Auckland and Wellington.
In Auckland, cross-harbour ferries resumed at 2pm with train services on the Eastern and Southern lines continuing to return to timetable. Auckland Transport say customers should expect delays and further cancellations “as recovery is in progress.”
Train services on Wellington's Kāpiti line continue to be serviced by bus between Porirua and Waikanae and on the Johnsonville line.
3.24pm Watch huge waves crashing down on New Plymouth's coastline as the wild weather hit the Taranaki. Read more.
Wild weather has generated a massive swell hitting the Taranaki coast. (Source: Supplied)
3.15pm Fire and Emergency are currently attending more than 300 calls for help across the country. The agency said most calls were related to trees and downed power lines. The majority of the calls were in Auckland, Wellington, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki.
3.02pm MetService says winds have now eased in Auckland below thresholds to be classified as severe.
The city's strong wind warning was scheduled to expire at 3pm on Sunday afternoon.
Heavy rain warnings were scheduled to expire in the Taranaki, Taupō and the Tongariro National Park area at 3pm. Alongside Auckland, Waikato, Waitomo, Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty (west of Papamoa) also had strong wind warnings scheduled to expire at 3pm.
2.52pm In a statement, Air New Zealand said it has cancelled at least 100 flights with more potentially coming throughout Sunday afternoon and evening. It said it would be organising recovery flights for some impacted customers.
The airline said it was advisable for booked customers to change flight dates online as its call centres were experiencing a high volume of calls.
2.40pm The Auckland Harbour Bridge has now reopened after previously being closed due to high winds, Waka Kotahi NZTA has advised. Speed restrictions are in place and motorists are being urged to remains cautious, with strong winds still affecting the region.
Bus users are advised by Auckland Transport that services across the bridge will be returning to normal.
2:07pm A photo taken east of Carterton shows severe flooding on a road.
1:58pm Northpower is urging its electricity customers to be prepared for “lengthy” outages due to “extensive damage” to its network.
It said its crews are still trying to understand the extent of weather-related damage.
“We are working hard, but it would be prudent for people who are impacted to plan to have no power all of today and possibly into tomorrow,” network general manager Josie Boyd said.
“We will update our website with the latest information on individual outages as it comes to hand.”
In many areas trees and vegetation will need to be removed before repairs can begin and extra resources are being brought in, according to Northpower.
1:47pm Footage shot by 1News shows a car caught up in a large slip in Plimmerton, north of Wellington. Watch the video below.
Heavy rain saw soil and seemingly a car come down the hillside. (Source: 1News)
1:32pm Wind is currently gusting in excess of 105km/h on the Auckland Harbour Bridge and motorists should postpone non-essential travel, according to Waka Kotahi.
Traffic cameras showed the motorway leading to the harbour bridge was quiet at around 1.30pm.
“Driving conditions are hazardous in many areas, with the risk of surface flooding, slips, falling tree branches or power lines coming down, and people should avoid all non-essential travel in these areas,” the agency’s emergency response leader Mark Owen said.
1:09pm Earlier, MetService said ex-tropical Cyclone Dovi would move east towards Hawke's Bay by Sunday afternoon.
WeatherWatch said the remnants of the tropical cyclone had first made landfall at around midday near Waitomo.
12:55pm Photos show slips created by the adverse weather in Melling.
12:47pm New photos posted by Civil Defence on Twitter shows earlier flooding at the Plimmerton roundabout.
12:35pm Network infrastructure provider Chorus’ website is showing significant disruption to copper phone and internet services in parts of Northland.
Meanwhile, Spark says mobile customers in some towns in the area may have lost phone, text and data services.
There were outages reported on Spark’s cell phone network in the Karikari Peninsula, Kerikeri, Kaitaia, Kaipara, Ahipara, Tōwai, Helena Bay, Taupō Bay, Kāeo, Waiharara and Russell.
12:18pm Some passenger train services are experiencing major delays and cancellations in Auckland and Wellington due to the adverse weather conditions.
Services on Wellington’s Hutt Valley train line have just resumed after track clearance was received. Meanwhile, Johnsonville line services have been replaced by bus along with Kāpiti line services between Porirua and Waikanae.
Several Auckland trains were also brought to a standstill earlier on the Eastern and Southern train lines due to overhead line problems. Services are running but with cancellations and delays, according to Auckland Transport.
12:06pm State Highway 1 is closed between Kaikōura and Waipara due to slips. Authorities said they are aiming to re-open the road to a single lane by mid-afternoon.
State Highway 67 from Hector to Mokihinui is also closed due to slips. Waka Kotahi is urging people in the South Island to delay all non-essential travel due to the weather.
11.54am Spark customers are experience problems with the network. The telco says: “We are currently experiencing a loss of All services nationwide. The outage started 13th Febuary 2022 at 11:24. We have our techs working on it now."
11.50am There's surface flooding in a street in Masterton. Images show part of a the street submerged in water.
Wild weather has battered much of the North Island on Sunday, including Masterton. (Source: 1News)
Earlier this morning:
Ten domestic flights in and out of Auckland Airport have been cancelled, while two others have been delayed as of 10am on Sunday morning. Two international flights have also been delayed.
Police are urging motorists to avoid non-essential travel after over 35 weather-related incidents were reported to police in Northland overnight.
There's also a power outage in the Far North with thousands of Top Energ customers affected.
Police received several reports of landslips affecting roads and houses in the greater Wellington area, including a large slip which came down across three lanes of SH2 (Western Hutt Road), Korokoro in Lower Hutt, just before 12.30am.
The occupants of a house at the top of the slip were evacuated.
It's also forced the closure of a number of roads in the Wairarapa due to slips.
Meanwhile, a Carterton man became trapped in deep water following flooding on Kokotau Road.The man was able to get out of the vehicle and was not injured. The road is now closed.
The adverse weather has also forced the closure of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, which "will remain closed until winds abate to levels safe for travel", a Waka Kotahi spokesperson said.
"Waka Kotahi’s current bridge safety protocols require the closure of the bridge to traffic when sustained wind gusts of 90kmp/h or higher are affecting the bridge."
The Western Ring Route, on State Highways 16 and 18, remain open to traffic.
High winds in Auckland has seen branches of trees to come off, with one hitting a car.
It comes after MetService on Sunday issued severe weather warning for central and northern New Zealand as ex-tropical Cyclone Dovi barrels across the central North Island on Sunday morning and into the afternoon, before it's forceast to move to the southeast.
Orange heavy rain warnings are in place for Taranaki; Tongariro National Park and Taupō about and south of Tūrangi; Tasman west of Motueka; Horowhenua and Kāpiti; Marlborough Sounds, Richmond and Bryant Ranges, and Rai Valley; the Tararua Ranges; Wellington and Wairarapa, excluding the Tararua District; Ranges of Buller and Nelson Lakes; and Eastern Marlborough about and south of Ward, and eastern parts of Canterbury about and north of Culverden.
An orange strong wind warning is in place for Auckland; Waikato, Waitomo, Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty west of Papamoa; the Taranaki; Coastal Hawke's Bay, including Mahia Peninsula; the Wairarapa; and Wellington and the Marlborough Sounds.
MetService said significant and hazardous waves with the potential of hazardous cross and rip currents are expected as Cyclone DovI passes through the country, with the largest waves are expected on the west coast of the North Island until Sunday afternoon.
Heavy rain affecting areas from Canterbury to the central North Island is expected to ease on Sunday afternoon as the cyclone moves away.
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