Strong gales have brought down trees and power lines in the central South Island and lower North Island, and sparked a large number of fires in Otago and Canterbury.
Trees fallen in strong gales on Birch Hill Rd, Glentui, Canterbury. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Strong winds fanned a fire in a forestry area on Three Mile Hill and another other in Cape Saunders near Portobello.
Fire and Emergency said the fires were caused by falling power lines, lightning strikes and previous managed burnoffs re-igniting
Spokesperson Kevin Barbara told Morning Report the blazes started in Otago overnight.
In Canterbury, six fires are burning, the largest in the Glentui area of the Waimakariri district.
Winds were gusting up to 160km/h in some places overnight, Barbara said.
Some properties have been damaged in the Fairlie area and in Dunedin.
Residents reported huge winds around Dunedin and trees down.
The extreme wind cut power to thousands of houses on the South Island's east coast.
A fire in the Glentui area of Canterbury, one of several that were fanned by the gales. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Trees, powerlines downed
Trees partly blocked multiple places on State Highway 1 and SH79 in Canterbury, police said.
SH7 at the Hanmer turnoff to Springs Junction/Lewis Pass was closed when trees have blew onto power lines, and fallen trees closed SH77 from Mount Hutt to Windwhistle in Canterbury.
A truck driver told RNZ he made it through Arthur's Pass to the West Coast on SH73 overnight, and had seen "the big green highway signs snapped off at ground level," and rocks and branches on the road.
At one point a gust blew his eightwheeler into the other lane, he said.
Darfield High School about 45 minutes west of Christchurch was closed as it wasn't save to travel on roads strewn with debris.
"We made the decision to close this morning mainly because our buses couldn't run - buses can tip over in high winds and winds are still strong."
The weather front is moving up the country pushing strong north westerlies ahead of it. Wind gusts of more than 107km/h were recorded overnight in Timaru and Ashburton, MetService said.
A truck and trailer was reportedly blown over on SH2 north of Masterton, blocking the southbound lane, police said. A tree was down on the SH2 over the Remutaka Hill.
The Remutaka Road summit had gusts of 146km/h and the Mid Dome peak in Southland, at 1271m high, recorded gusts of 168 km/h, MetService said.
Fire and Emergency said the wind brought down power lines and a street light in Featherston in the Wairarapa.
Strong wind warnings cover Wairarapa, Marlborough, Wellington, the Canterbury plains and high country, Southland and Otago, with northwest gales and gusts of 120-130km/h forecast.
There have been lightning strikes and rain on the main divide in the South Island. A heavy rain warning is in place on the West Coast through until about 11am, and 90mm of rain has fallen at Milford Sound.