A flooded street in Christchurch (file photo) Photo: Christchurch City Council
The weather system that brought downpours to Canterbury overnight is travelling up the island and towards Wellington.
Heavy rain and strong wind watches remain place for parts of Canterbury north of the Rakaia River and the Kaikōura coast to Seddon until 11am.
The rugged weather on Tuesday came after a scorching Monday, where temperatures hit 31 degrees.
A balmy start to the day saw Christchurch reach 23 degrees by 6.30am, before temperatures plunged to 8, earning the city a spot on MetService's hottest, coldest, wettest and windiest places in the country on the same day.
MetService said rain caused surface flooding on some southern slopes of Banks Peninsula, but started to ease about 3.30am on Wednesday.
Nearly 100mm of rain fell in Banks Peninsula over 12 hours while wind gusts reached 110 kilometres an hour.
State Highway 75 between Birdlings Flat and Little River reopened this morning, following surface flooding.
MetService said the rainband was moving northwards towards Kaikōura and Marlborough. While it appeared to be easing, it could still bring heavy downpours to Wellington on Wednesday morning.
Fire and Emergency had received three reports of tree branches falling in Christchurch and Diamond Harbour. However, they were minor and would be referred to the council.
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