Wind gusts over 150km/h have been recorded overnight in exposed areas of Wellington, with the strong wind causing flight disruptions in the capital.
Yesterday MetService issued heavy rain watches and warnings, alongside strong wind warnings for parts of the country as a low pressure system moved across the motu.
This morning, most flights to and from Wellington Airport have been cancelled or delayed due to wind gusts.
The airport's wesbite listed 31 flights cancelled so far, and both Interislander and Bluebridge ferry sailings have also been cancelled today.
"Strong winds are impacting Wellington this morning, with gusts exceeding 50 knots. As a result, we have cancelled a number of domestic flights in and out of Wellington," Air NZ chief operations officer Kate Boyer said.
"Our teams are closely monitoring the conditions and will only operate flights when it is safe to do so."
Motorists are advised to take extreme caution, and high-sided vehicles.
MetService meteorologist Heather Keats said the strong winds and heavy rain was due to a low pressure system sitting to the northeast of the country.
"It's slow, it's spinning away. There's a whole bunch of fronts, essentially it's just a really messy setup," she told Breakfast.
Over the past few days of severe gales and downpours, Keats said there was also around 300 lightning strikes recorded across the country.
"I had a look through the observations overnight. Mount Kaukau, quite an elevated and exposed spot for Wellington, but overnight they had gusts of over 150km an hour."
"We've had downpours coming through, so Gisborne recording sort of 35mm of rain in an hour, and also those large swells too, again in Wellington Harbour, Baring Head has had waves of over 8m, so a lot going on," she explained.
Orange heavy rain warnings were in effect for the Tararua Range, Wairarapa south of Masterton, and Wellington excluding Porirua until midnight.
Strong wind warnings were also issued for Taranaki, Wellington, and Marlborough east of Seddon including the Sounds.
The forecaster warned of severe gale south to southeasterlies with damaging gusts of 130 km/h in exposed places, especially north of Taranaki Maunga.
Meanwhile, Keats said the lower half of the South Island "wasn't looking too bad today" following a dump of low-level snow yesterday which closed some roads.
"I'll be really interested once the sun comes up to see some of those pictures out of the South Island. I reckon places like Hanmer Springs probably got a lot of snow last night, so it'll be great to see that," she said.
"There's a couple of other watches scattered around, snow is expected again today for higher spots of North Canterbury and Marlborough.
"So, we've got road snowfall warnings in place for Lewis Pass and Porters Pass, but things are improving. It's just going to take today for most of that severe weather to clear out."
SH3 in Waitara closed due to fallen trees
New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi said a stretch of State Highway 3 at Waitara was closed this morning after fallen trees blocked the highway.
"SH3 is currently closed between Princess Street and Nelson Street and crews are on scene to clear the fallen trees," an NZTA spokesperson said.
A detour was currently in place.
"Please be extremely careful while driving around the region and be alert for the possibility of fallen trees or debris."
Current watches and warnings list
Heavy Rain Warning – Orange
The Tararua Range, Wairarapa south of Masterton, and Wellington excluding Porirua – 18hrs from 6am to midnight tonight.
Strong Wind Warning – Orange
Taranaki – 16hrs from midnight Thursday to 4pm today.
Wellington, also Marlborough east of Seddon including the Sounds – 21hrs from 9pm Thursday to 6pm today.
Heavy Rain Watch
Gisborne/Tairawhiti and the Wairoa District – 18hrs from 8pm Thursday to 2pm today.
Strong Wind Watch
Whanganui – 12hrs from 5am today to 5pm today.
Wairarapa and the Tararua District – 12hrs from midnight Thursday to midday today.
Horowhenua and Kapiti Coast – 17hrs from 10pm Thursday to 3pm today.
Buller, Grey and Westland Districts, also Nelson Lakes National Park – 16hrs from 8pm Thursday to noon today.
Road Snowfall Warning
Lewis Pass (SH7) – 27hrs from 9pm Thursday to midnight today.
Porters Pass (SH73) – 15hrs from 9pm Thursday to noon today.
Heavy Swell Warning
Wairarapa – Turakirae Head to Flat Point – 6hrs from 3am today to 9am today.
Wellington – Cape Terawhiti to Turakirae Head – 21hrs from 3am today to midnight today.
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