The roof of an unoccupied home in the Auckland suburb of Hillsborough came off in high winds and scattered debris down the road.
Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson
Fire and Emergency (FENZ) responded to more than 100 weather-related callouts today around Auckland, with strong wind warnings upgraded to cover most of the North Island today, as well as the upper West Coast of the South Island.
FENZ said the most significant incidents were around Pukekohe and Papakura, where trees and power lines came down.
Crews responding to a roof being torn off an unoccupied home in Hillsborough said it scattered debris down the road and up against a car.
The roof of an unoccupied home in the Auckland suburb of Hillsborough came off in high winds and scattered debris down the road.
Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson
All lanes on Auckland’s Harbour Bridge were closed about 3pm as a result of strong winds, but have now reopened.
Motorists are still being urged to drive with care and expect delays.
There is a Strong Wind Watch for Auckland and Great Barrier island until 5pm.
MetService said the southeast winds may approach severe gale strength in exposed places, and there was a moderate chance of upgrading the Watch to a Warning.
MetService also said gusts could reach 120 kilometres-an-hour in Waitako, the central North Island, Taranaki, Manawatū, Kāpiti Coast, and Coromandel Peninsula.
Orange wind warnings are also in place for the Marlborough Sounds, Nelson and the West Coast north of Aoraki/Mount Cook.
Ferry cancellations
Auckland Transport said a number of ferry sailings have been cancelled due to the weather.
All trips on the Pine Harbour service have been cancelled for the rest of the day. Replacement shuttles will depart from Pine Harbour at 6pm and replacement shuttles will depart from Queens Wharf at 7pm.
Sailings will not stop at Northcote Point until further notice and two sailings to Waiheke Island have been cancelled.
All Gulf Harbour trips for the rest of today and tomorrow have been cancelled.
Passengers are encouraged to check the latest information via the AT Mobile app, or the AT website.
Power out
Lines company PowerCo has reported a number of outages, including 375 properties in Carterton and 109 in Horopito.
Many homes have lost power as a result of bad weather.
Photo: Supplied
It has restored power to Kennedy Bay, Matamata and Te Aroha.
Parts of Northland were also without power after cuts earlier this afternoon.
422 Northpower customers lost power shortly after midday at Kaiwaka.
181 Northpower customers were without electricity at Maungaturoto, while a tree damaging power lines cut 224 customers off around Kaiwaka and 235 customers were without electricity at Mangawhai.
Repairs are still ongoing further north at Kauri, where a tree damaging lines this morning cut power to 285 customers.
Heavy rain warnings are in place for Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne and the Coromandel Peninsula.
Up to 130 millimetres of rain could fall in Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay and the Coromandel Peninsula throughout today, with orange warnings in place.
South of Auckland, Counties Energy said there were a number of power cuts from strong winds and heavy rain.
It was showing outages in pocketes across the south of Papakura.
It said crews were working hard to restore power.
Community events cancelled
Tauranga City Council has cancelled all five of its community New Year’s Eve events because of the bad weather forecast.
The council said weather reports indicated heavy rain and strong winds during event set-up, with conditions highly likely to continue into Wednesday.
It said fireworks displays will hopefully still take place from various locations around the city on New Year’s Eve.
Yachtie in the water
A yachtie has ended up in the water north of Auckland, after trying to get clear of the windy conditions.
The Coastguard said the man asked for help because he was worried his mooring line might snap at Leigh.
Kawau volunteers responded but it was not safe for them to reach him, the Coastguard said.
It said the man then tried to get to shore in his tender but he ended up in the water.
Police said emergency services were called at about 2.10pm but the man was safely on land 10 minutes later and was checked by ambulance crews.
‘It’s an interesting direction’
Earlier, Metservice meteorologist Katie Lyons said campers in the Coromandel would have woken to soggy conditions.
“Unfortunately, things in the Coromandel have deteriorated overnight with that rain setting in. Places in the hills of Coromandel are seeing about 30mm of rain already.”
️Rain Band Moving South️
Heavy Rain Warnings are still in their early days, so accumulations are just starting to climb.
❓You can see two different directions of rain due to different wind flows at different levels of the atmosphere!
Check out the radar here:… pic.twitter.com/zmUEP3SLSF
— MetService NZ (@MetService) December 28, 2025
A warning of severe gales has been issued for Manawatu, Horowhenua and Kapiti coast from 4pm, while the Tararua district and Wairarapa will be under a heavy rain watch from 6pm.
From 10pm the Marlborough Sounds, Nelson, Buller, Grey District and Westland will be under a strong wind watch.
Lyons said people in the Kāpiti Coast and Manawatū should prepare for the strong southeasterlies by tying down loose objects.
“It’s an interesting direction because you’d think they would be quite sheltered. But these southeasterlies can come up and down the other side of those hills, accelerating and and gaining speed as they do so,” she said.
“Not everyone will necessarily feel the the full fury of these winds, but particularly those in exposed places.”
Lyons said the South Island is experiencing the calmest weather conditions.
“While it has its things going on, it’s definitely much better than than the North Island. In particular, places like the West Coast, maybe Fiordland as well, are really the the better spots for today. Eventually things will move south towards them as well.”
Festivalgoers for New Year’s events such as Rhythm and Vines have been warned to watch out for wild weather on the roads.
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