The polar blast is continuing to bring snow and winds to much of New Zealand and forecasters expect it to last until Thursday.
Snow already covers most of the South Island and the lower and central parts of the North Island after heavy falls on Monday but new falls on Tuesday added to problems.
In earthquake-hit Canterbury many roads are covered after a big fall on Tuesday morning with snow drifts up to 50cm in eastern parts of the city.
[image:2759:full]Treacherous driving conditions also prompted many schools and businesses to shut for the second day in a row, as the snow continued to fall.
The chair of the Canterbury Business Recovery Network, Matthew Carpenter, says that's making life even more difficult for businesses stuggling in the wake of the earthquakes.
He says many businesses are already existing on borrowed money and losing two or three days turnover is a major knock.
In Queenstown, many residents were busy digging out driveways, with snow drifts of up to two metres in some parts of the town.
Schools there were shut for a second day.
North Island feels affects
Snow began falling in Wellington again at about 4pm on Tuesday, including the hill suburbs and in the central business district.
[image:2755:half:right]For a second day Wellingtonians living in hill suburbs were being warned they may be trapped by snow in the city center if they didn't leave for home early.
Wellington Regional Council spokesperson Brett Sangster told Checkpoint the new snowfalls were disrupting most bus services in Wellington.
Partial bus services ran in hill suburbs in Wellington and the Hutt Valley on Tuesday night while Wellington Central and Karori services were either not operating or running on shortened routes, and buses from the Hutt Valley to Wainuomata were running only one way.
The MetService says hail and stronger rain is heading up to the Hawke's Bay at the moment, and will reach Gisborne overnight, while also spreading into Manawatu and Taranaki.
111 for emergencies only
Ambulance services in the South Island are warning people only to use the 111 service for emergencies.
Regional operations manager Chris Haines says the service has fielded many calls of a non-emergency nature, including for toothache, a sore throat or a bleeding nose, but people should be contacting their GP first.
Mr Haines says it takes much longer to reach people in the snowy conditions and it can't afford to be sending ambulances to minor incidents.
Road information
Police warn wet roads will turn to ice rinks overnight and care will be needed on Wednesday.
Three North Island highways have reopened on Tuesday afternoon: State Highway 47 from National Park to Turangi, State Highway 46 from Tongariro to Rangipo, and State Highway 49 from Ohakune to Waiouru.
The Desert Road (State Highway 1) is closed by snow between Rangipo and Waiouru and also between Taihape and Waiouru. State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupo has also been closed.
Council officials say roads in and around the capital are in a terrible state, and people should avoid travel if they can.
Wellington City council spokesperson Richard McLean says there is significant snow in the higher suburbs, including Karori, Makara, Khandallah and Newlands.
He says even central city proved too dangerous for many motorists, with many abandoning their cars along Taranaki and Wallace Streets because of sleet.
The Emergency Manager for Hutt City, Paul Nickalls says Upper Hutt is virtually snow-bound, and Whitemans Valley is closed off as is State Highway 2 over the Rimutakas.
He says other key roads are open but treacherous.
In the South Island, the Lindis Pass will now be closed until at least 10am on Wednesday, while the Lewis Pass will be shut until at least 9am.
Arthur's Pass, Porters Pass and Burke's Pass are also closed by snow.
Snow chains are essential on State Highway 6 between Queenstown and Five Rivers.
State Highway 7 from Springs Junction to Reefton will not reopen on Tuesday and will be reviewed at 9am on Wednesday.
Other closures are State Highway 73, Arthurs to Otira, State Highway 87 Outram to Kyeburn, State Highway 85 from Kyeburn to Palmerston and State Highway 7, the Rahu Saddle between Springs Junction and Reefton.
The Crown Range between Queenstown and Wanaka reopened at 11am on Tuesday, but the Transport Agency says chains are essential.
Chains are required on many roads throughout the South Island.
Airports open
Wellington airport was closed late on Tuesday afternoon because of ice on the runways was open again for flights in the evening.
More than 20 flights were either cancelled or delayed for almost two hours.
Queenstown Airport reopened on Tuesday after the worst snow in the resort town for more than 50 years.
Airlines are clearing a backlog of about 1000 snow-bound passenges. The runway reopened late in the morning, but airlines say it could be several days before all stranded passengers can be cleared.
Both Christchurch and Dunedin airports are open.
More bad weather to come
The MetService is warning that more snow is on the way.
Warnings of heavy snow falls are in force for nearly half the North Island, as well as the South Island.
They are in place from Taranaki across to the Gisborne region south down to Wairarapa and Wellington.
Marlborough is also under heavy snow warnings and Christchurch and Dunedin through to Southland.
Allister Gorman of MetService says snow levels will stay around 100 to 200 metres in the South Island and at 300 to 400 metres in the southern North Island - although the intensity of showers will slowly ease.
Christchurch International Airport is open.
