Severe weather is on the way for Marlborough and Wellington this afternoon as quake recovery efforts continue.
Southerlies are expected to hit Wellington about 2pm today, with very gusty winds of up to 120km/h are likely to hit by rush hour.
Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
Heavy rain and cold southerlies are due to sweep up the east coast from Canterbury and through Marlborough and Wellington.
Metservice is warning to watch for flooding in Marlborough and along the Kaikoura coast south of Ward.
Councils have been preparing for another period of bad weather, following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck near Hanmer Springs in the early hours of Monday morning and a deluge of rain that followed, hampering recovery efforts.
Parts of the top of the South Island and the Wellington region experienced flooding after heavy rain on Tuesday.
The weather created more slips and Wellington was cut off for some hours, with roads closed and trains cancelled.
In Kaikoura on Monday, heavy rain and strong winds posed a risk of further slips and rockfalls in the region, which has been badly damaged by the quake.
Metservice forecasts that there will be no significant rainfall in the Wellington and Marlborough regions over the weekend.