It was Gisborne's turn to be battered by thunderstorms Tuesday evening, following wild weather - including a tornado - across the lower North Island.
MetService had earlier issued a thunderstorm warning for the East Coast and parts of Hawke's Bay as Wellington cleaned up after a damaging storm earlier in the day.
The storm moved northeast, MetService warning of heavy rain, large hail, damaging wind gusts and frequent lightning.
"The thunderstorm has just hit Gisborne. Pretty spectacular," Uawa Civil Defence - Tolaga Bay East Coast wrote on its Facebook page around 8pm.
MetService said at 9pm the storm was "weakening and moving offshore".
The forecaster lifted the severe thunderstorm warning for the Gisborne / Hawke's Bay region.
"There may still be a few thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail about southern parts of Gisborne/Tai Rawhiti until about 10pm this evening (Tuesday), but no further severe thunderstorms are expected."
Recap the day's events with RNZ's blog:
No major issues were reported in Gisborne as of 9pm, and the weather had been manageable so far, Gisborne Civil Defence manager Ben Green said.
But it was intense, complete with lightning and short sharp bouts of extremely heavy rain - and he was worried about the damage to orchards.
"I'd certainly be saying that there'd be particular impact on the horticulture teams, farms and stonefruit. There won't be some happy people, certainly as a result of this."
The hailstones were 10 to 15mm in diameter, said Green - the biggest he had seen in a number of years.
People in Lower Hutt had earlier been rushing to clean up their homes, board up any damaged windows and tie down any loose debris before the sun went down.
The worst of the wild weather appeared to be over for the capital by the late afternoon, following a brief but powerful storm. But multiple roads were blocked in Hutt Central after extensive damage, with multiple reports of trees down over roads, glass across roads, and extensive damage to roofs, windows and cars, police said. People are advised to avoid the area.
National MP for Hutt South Chris Bishop's office has been damaged by the storm. Salvation Army family store in Hutt City has had the windows blown out the front of the shop, as did a New World supermarket. Windows were blown out of a bus in Lower Hutt, but no one was hurt. Lighting Direct on Knights Road was seriously damaged with the front doors and windows pulled away from their frames, taking part of the storefront with them. Two trees fell on in a house on Kings Crescent.
Crews clean up the roads after a severe thunderstorm ripped across Lower Hutt, on 12 December, 2023. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Two children were taken to Hutt Hospital, one in a serious condition. By the evening, one had been discharged and the other admitted to the children's ward. A spokesperson said they could not provide an update on the condition of the patient.
Earlier, eyewitnesses described a tornado whipping through the Hutt Valley as heavy rain, hail and thunderstorms lashed the capital.
Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry said there had been extensive damage from the tornado, and a small number of residents would not be able to return to their homes immediately. He said they are still ascertaining the extent of the damage.
The storm front hit the region after battering Canterbury earlier on Tuesday morning, and moved up the east coast of the country.
A severe thunderstorm warning earlier in the afternoon was later downgraded. By 5.45pm, the watch region had been reduced to just Gisborne, Hawke's Bay and Tararua until at least 9pm.
Some properties on Cornwall Street have been damaged after a severe thunderstorm hit Lower Hutt on 12 December, 2023. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Masterton District Council said shortly before 6pm the thunderstorm had passed though their region.
A spokesperson said they had had some hail, rain, reasonably strong wind, thunder and lightening shortly after 4pm. But he said the weather had been "short and sharp".
No damage was reported to the council at the time of reporting.
In Christchurch, Fire and Emergency New Zealand said heavy rain flooded houses in the suburbs of Belfast and Middleton.
Several flights were cancelled and delayed at Christchurch Airport.
Airways New Zealand said lightning strikes affected some of the "critical infrastructure".
