The Fire Service looking at a property on The Terrace in Wellington damaged by high winds. Photo: RNZ / Ellen O'Dwyer
High winds are forecast for parts of the lower North Island while heavy rain, thunderstorms and snow are expected across the South Island.
Most of the severe weather warnings in place for much of New Zealand on Friday have now expired.
A surprise storm brought thunder, lightning strikes and some hail to Wellington on Friday evening.
A MetService spokesperson said the front was moving quickly and rain should ease after 10pm.
Strong winds closed State Highway 2 Remutaka Hill to all traffic at 8pm on Friday. The road reopened at about 11pm, but the national transport agency warned care was still needed on the route as winds continued to be strong in the area. Drivers should exercise caution and drive to the conditions, it said.
UPDATE 8:25PM
— NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi - Wellington (@nztawgtn) September 5, 2025
SH2 Remutaka Hill remains CLOSED due to strong winds. Contractors will be actively monitoring and assessing the condition. Please avoid this area or consider using an alternative route. For overnight updates: https://t.co/EbU3E735ya ^SG https://t.co/Y5xQldgzkr pic.twitter.com/hufGKY9Y05
Waka Kotahi warned Wellington drivers to take care as winds buffeted the region, and to stay on the alert for debris, downed power lines and felled trees.
Gusts of up to 120 kilometres an hour were forecast for exposed routes such as State Highway 2, Remutaka Hill and the Wainui Saddle of State Highway 1, through Transmission Gully - while northwest winds could approach severe gales in the Wairarapa.
Fire and Emergency shift manager Murray Dunbar said there had been five weather-related callouts on Friday afternoon in the Wellington region.
That included reports of unstable tiling on a roof of a house on the Terrace, two unstable sheds - one in Upper Hutt and one in Whitby - and two tree-related callouts, including one in Hataitai.
Two fire trucks were at the scene of the house on the southern end of The Terrace at 3.16pm where a tile had come loose and damaged a car below.
A firefighter in a ladder truck inspected the house.
Fire fighters checking out the property on The Terrace. Photo: RNZ / Ellen O'Dwyer
By Friday evening the only orange level warnings MetService still had in place were road snowfall warnings for Lewis Pass, Arthur's Pass, Porters Pass, Milford Road and Crown Range Road.
Earlier on Friday, MetService meteorologist Silvia Martino said Remutaka Hill had already recorded gusts up to 137 km/h and the strong winds were building in remote parts of the east coast of the lower North Island.
A number of wind watches were still in place for the bottom of the South Island on Friday evening, while in the North Island heavy rain watches were in place for the Tararua Ranges and the Eastern Bay of Plenty Ranges.
"We've already seen some very strong winds through the Wairarapa and Wellington region with gusts getting up to 120 km/h in exposed bits and even stronger right out on the east coast of Wairarapa.
"Where people live it's not quite as strong yet - unless anyone's out at the Castle Point light house - they're probably not seeing them quite yet," Martino said.
She said motorists in high-sided vehicles and motorcyclists should be careful on the roads across the region.
"As you get into Wellington Central [we're] not expecting quite as strong winds but still something to watch out for," Martino said.
She said - further south - heavy rain and "a whole lot of thunderstorms" would hit central parts of the Southern Alps and northern parts of Westland such as the Grey and Buller districts.
Photo: MetService screenshot
Up to 90 millimetres if rain was expected around the headwaters of the Canterbury lakes as well as rivers about and below Arthur's Pass ahead of 5pm today.
"That thunderstorm activity is expected to confine itself to the western side of the divide by this afternoon and we've got thunderstorms down into Fiordland as well that could have heavy rain with those.
"Things are easing from the south - so our rain warning for the headwaters of Canterbury lakes and rivers is running through till five pm today - but slowly improving. Areas like Westland, Grey, Buller ranges [are] all slowly easing from the south so - by night time - should be getting a little better through there," Martino said.
Showers were forecast to turn into snow over the Crown Range Road late this afternoon - bringing up four centimetres of snow about the summit.
While State Highway 94 on Milford Road could see up to 10cm of snow accumulating about the Homer Tunnel entrance from this afternoon with another 2-4cm expected to fall in the area - above 500 metres - on Saturday morning.
"We might see flurries lower than that but that's where we're expecting snow to accumulate to. For the Crown Range we're talking about snow about the summit and then lesser amounts - down to 800 metres - but lower than that there is the possibility you'll get flurries that don't settle," Martino said.
She also said people in Grey and Buller could see localised heavy downpours that were not necessarily visible on the wider forecast.
Martino said people should keep an eye on updates for snowfall in affected areas and strong south westerly winds passing through southern parts of Fiordland and Southland - as well as Clutha and Dunedin - with a fast moving front tomorrow.
"It's looking pretty spring like," Martino said.
The Transport Agency was also warning of potentially damaging wind gusts for motorists on State Highways 7 and 73 in the central South Island.
An orange wind warning was in force for the Canterbury High Country until 3pm, and gusts of about 100 km/h had been recorded near Ashburton and the Canterbury Plains.
"Driving may be difficult, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles," the Transport Agency said.
Waka Kotahi said a large number of lightning strikes had been detected on the West Coast through the early hours of Friday.
"In one instance lightning strikes are affecting railway signals and level crossings around Otira on State Highway 73. KiwiRail is working to rectify the situation," it said.
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