A state of emergency has been declared in Banks Peninsula, a boil water notice is in place, a river has burst its banks and a highway closed.
See how the day's events unfolded with our liveblog:
Flooding in the Christchurch suburb of Beckenham after the Heathcote River breached its banks. Photo: RNZ / Adam Burns
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
A farm worker had to swim stranded sheep to safety after huge downpours at Teddington.
Residents of a Banks Peninsula town - previously cut off after heavy rain - are angry and frustrated, saying opening the nearby lake to the ocean would mitigate flooding.
South Wairarapa mayor Fran Wilde said it was too soon to discuss the cost of the latest clean-up, but it wasn't too early to talk about the long-term challenges.
Watch, warning? Red, orange, yellow? What do they all mean?
Banks Peninsula is under an orange heavy rain warning, with a further 70 to 100 millimetres of rain predicted.
for ad-free news and current affairs
