Live: Flights delayed, cancelled as trough brings heavy rain, gales to much of NZ

Flights have been cancelled in the capital, a roof ripped off on the West Coast, and motorists in Auckland faced delays thanks to restrictions placed on crossing the Harbour Bridge.

With heavy winds in Auckland, Waka Kotahi/NZTA shortly before 5pm closed four lanes on the bridge, leaving two in each direction. It earlier said speed limits might need to be reduced.

"Motorists are urged to drive to the conditions and look out for the electronic message boards which will indicate lane closures and reduced speeds, and stay within their lane while travelling across the bridge," the agency said in a statement.

"Drivers of high-sided vehicles and motorcyclists are advised to avoid the Auckland Harbour Bridge and use the western ring route on State Highways 16 and 18."

The motorway was back to normal shortly after 6pm.

Recap the day with RNZ's liveblog:

Wellington Airport spokesperson Phil Rennie said a number of flights had been cancelled at Wellington Airport due to bad weather at other destination airports.

MetService earlier had much of the upper South Island and lower North Island under heavy rain, strong wind or thunderstorm warnings. It issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the central North Island at 2pm.

Meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane told RNZ the strongest gusts so far had been recorded at Aoraki Mount Cook, while the heaviest rainfall had been seen in Marlborough.

"Twenty to even 40mm of rain in one hour - and that is mostly at the top of the South Island, especially in more mountainous areas. So quite a lot of rain to fall in such a short space of time."

Makgabutlane said conditions were now easing in the South Island, but they were set to intensify through the central North Island.

MetService earlier said a trough would bring unsettled weather to western parts of both islands, followed by heavy showers and thunderstorms across southern and central New Zealand.

There was also a road snowfall warning for the Crown Range Road overnight.

Many other parts of the country are also subject to strong wind and weather watches until later on Monday night.

For the most up to date changes, please check the MetService warnings page.

Meanwhile, gravel and silt which was washed onto Ballarat Street in Queenstown this morning, causing part of the street to be temporarily closed, had now been cleared.

A post on X by Waka Kotahi earlier showed water flooding across the street in the centre of the town.

Queenstown Lakes District Council told RNZ the debris was from an existing road works site on the street and the small affected section of the street had now re-opened.

A review was due to be completed shortly to see what measures could be taken to prevent it from happening again, the council said.

The debris had not affected travel on State Highway 6A - Stanley Street - nor the road works where the debris originated from, it said.