Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Very hot weather is forecast for parts of the South Island today moving to the east coast of the North Island on the weekend.
MetService is forecasting temperature highs of 30C for Christchurch, Ashburton and Oamaru on Friday with Dunedin expected to reach 28C and Timaru and Blenheim 29C.
Northwesterly winds will drive up the temperatures in the east of the South Island and MetService has a strong wind watch for Southland, Otago and Canterbury High Country south of Aoraki / Mount Cook until 7pm on Friday. Gusts of 100km/h can be expected, especially inland.
Strong winds have toppled trees and blocked several roads in the Queentown Lakes district on Friday.
The northbound lane of Cardrona Valley Road, both lanes of Lower Shotover Road and several sections of State Highway 6, between Albert Town and Lake Hāwea, are closed.
A strong wind watch is in place for the region until 7pm on Friday.
It is also expected to be warm in the North Island on Friday with temperature highs in the low to mid 20s.
The weekend is expected to be dry for those in the North Island with hot temperatures for some. Gisborne, Napier and Hastings are forecast to exceed 30C on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Napier is forecast to have a high of 32C on Saturday and Monday, while Hastings is expected to reach 32C on Saturday and 33C on Sunday and Gisborne is forecast to reach 31C on all three days.
Saturday temperatures are forecast to be in the mid 20s for the upper North Island including Auckland.
A dry weekend is expected for those in the North Island, but the West Coast of the South Island could expect some showers on Saturday.
MetService is forecasting more substantial rain in the west and south of the South Island on Sunday.
There is a heavy rain warning in place for Fiordland with up to 240mm of rain expected to fall from 11pm on Saturday until 1am on Monday.
"Saturday will be the pick of the days this weekend in the South Island; perfect timing for runners to complete the Kepler Challenge and be off the mountain before the rain rolls in overnight," MetService Meteorologist Michael Pawley said.
Large swells delayed some Cook Strait ferries this week
Large swells on Cook Strait this week has caused ferries to run hours behind schedule in some cases.
On Bluebridge some ships will be leaving up to five hours later than they should while on Interislander that figure is up to three hours behind schedule.
Both services said they had contacted passengers directly.
It came after Bluebridge's Livia ferry faced a fuel pump issue on Tuesday, which caused delays.
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