Torrential rains and gale-force winds hit Canterbury

A flooded street in Christchurch. Photo: Christchurch City Council

Torrential rains and gale-force winds have flooded roads and brought down powerlines in Canterbury.

Heavy rain and strong wind watches were in place for upper Canterbury and the Kaikoura Coast until Wednesday morning.

MetService meteorologist Peter Little said heavy rainfall was causing surface flooding on the southern slopes of Banks Peninsula.

He said the area had seen 100mm of rainfall this evening but flooding was expected to subside in the next few hours.

Fire and Emergency said they received reports of tree branches and power lines falling in the region.

Dozens of households are without power in Canterbury.

Power company Orion has reported 78 current outages in the Christchurch suburb of Papanui and 14 in Peraki in the Banks Peninsula.

Hundreds of households in the region were also affected by outages on Tuesday evening, but power had since been restored.

Part of State Highway 75 between Christchurch and Akaroa is closed due to flooding.

The Transport Agency said the highway would be shut bewteen Birdlings Flat and Little River until further notice.

Motorists were advised to avoid the area and delay their journey.

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