Photo: RNZ / Conan Young
MetService says wild weather across the country is starting to ease – though orange strong wind warnings and some yellow watches remain in some regions, and flooding is continuing to cause disruption at the top of the South Island.
The Transport Agency said State Highway 6 remained closed between Pelorus and Havelock on Saturday morning, with drivers being told to avoid the area and follow all traffic management in place.
Strong wind warnings remained for parts of the lower North Island, MetService’s Magwala said, including Wellington, Wairarapa and Tararua District.
And high winds were also still affecting Canterbury High Country, but all warnings were expected to be lifted later on Saturday.
“Be aware of strong winds for the first half of the morning – otherwise things will go back to normal,” Magwala said.
“There will be showers, but not as heavy.”
On Friday heavy rain and strong winds caused flooding in some places, and disrupted travel on some South Island state highways, with some elevated parts of Nelson and Tasman recording up to 300mm of rain in 36 hours.
That weather front was now moving away from New Zealand, with only a few lighter showers expected. However people were still being urged to take care in strong winds through the first half of Saturday morning.
Powerco said most of Friday’s major weather-related outages in Taranaki and Whanganui had now been repaired. But about 47 customers remained without power across Taranaki on Saturday morning, down from nearly 600 last night.
In Whanganui, 108 customers were also still without power on Saturday, with the biggest outages in Turakina, Parakino and Kai Iwi.
For Sunday, MetService said the blustery weather was expected to continue, with an “unsettled and cold showery” west-to-southwest flow poised to blow over the motu, and more wind warnings possible, particularly for Southland and Otago.
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