Parts of Dunedin have been flooded after heavy rain and hailstones fell on the city, while strong winds have caused power outages, closed roads and tipped a campervan in the Lower North Island.
Central Dunedin was hit by a powerful storm this afternoon. Photo: RNZ / Lydia Anderson
Dunedin houses and businesses have been flooded after hail and thunder hit the city this afternoon.
The storm hit at about 4pm, turning streets into rivers.
The Dunedin City Council said about 14 houses had been affected by flooding, and many south Dunedin streets had flooding issues.
Dunedin's after-hours medical centre has had to close for the night due to flooding, and those with an emergency were being told to go to Dunedin Hospital.
The owner of a Dunedin shopping mall said some businesses in the city were severely hit by this afternoon's flash flood.
Simon Eddy, who ran the Golden Centre shopping mall on George Street in the central city, said it had to close for about three-quarters of an hour to ensure customer safety.
Mr Eddy said while other businesses had been hit very hard, the Golden Centre mall escaped relatively undamaged.
Dunedin was hit by a hail storm in the middle of summer. Photo: RNZ / Lydia Anderson
Further north, a power cut starting just after 2pm affected 576 homes and businesses to the east of Upper Hutt, while another power cut hit 93 properties near Haywards Hill.
Wellington Electricity did not know what caused the problems, but expected them to be resolved by 6pm.
Meanwhile, north of Wellington, an insulator fault caused a power cut in Fielding and falling trees caused outages in Wairarapa.
Powerco says 134 of their customers in Fielding and Greytown were without power.
Strong wind warnings were in place for the Rimutaka Ranges, near Dannevirke, and on the Desert Road.
Metservice has measured gusts up to 160 kilometres an hour in the Tararua Ranges, which have had more than 100 millimetres of rain.
Just after 11am, a campervan carrying a family of four was blown over just north of Woodville. Nobody was injured.