Heavy rain and gales lashing parts of New Zealand

Firefighters have undertaken a dramatic rescue after a truck driver became trapped in his vehicle when it rolled in high winds in Canterbury, as a severe weather front makes its way up the South Island.

MetService earlier forecast strong northwesterlies gales gusting at 130 kilometres per hour in parts of the Canterbury High Country while a strong wind watch is in place for the Canterbury Plains.

The gale-force winds are part of a system of heavy rain and thunderstorms that have been lashing parts of the South Island and lower North Island with more than 4000 lightning strikes and 100mm of rain in Fiordland and Milford Sound alone.

Three Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews were sent to the trapped truck driver on Arundel Rakaia Gorge Road near Staveley shortly after 1pm on Wednesday.

Fire and Emergency said firefighters had to use the jaws of life to free the trapped driver.

Hato Hone St John said an ambulance, helicopter and rapid response vehicle were sent to the crash.

A spokesperson said two patients were assessed and one was flown to Christchurch Hospital in a moderate condition while the other was treated at the scene.

The severe weather front has been steadily moving north since Wednesday morning, causing power outages and leaving flooded streets and road closures in its wake.

Severe Weather Update:

The Tararua Range and Buller District have been upgraded to an Orange Heavy Rain Warning.

The Wairarapa and the Tararua District have also been upgraded to an Orange Strong Wind Warning.

There is also a Heavy Swell Warning in place from Otaki to… pic.twitter.com/BrNcLMRuhn

— MetService (@MetService) September 16, 2025

In Wellington severe gales have reached speeds of 140kmh on Wednesday afternoon, and Metservice said the city can expect northwesterlies gusting up to 120khm in exposed areas.

A warning is in place till 6am Thursday morning.

NZTA is warning those travelling on the Remutaka Hill Road to take care, especially in high-sided vehicles and motorbikes.

Metservice said Wellington's Mount Kauakau recorded the strongest winds in the areas, with gusts of 140kmh at 2pm.

In South Canterbury, Alpine Energy said close to 1000 customers were without power across its networks. The latest outage is impacting Geraldine.

It said one of two main outages was caused when a tree fell on a powerline, breaking the line and snapping the pole.

Impacted areas include Albury, Cannington, Cave, Esk Valley, St Andrews and Totara Valley.

Crews are working to restore power.

Further south, power has been restored to hundreds of Dunedin and Mosgiel residents.

Aurora Energy said work is underway to fix the outages for the remaining affected customers.

MetService head of weather news Heather Keats told Midday Report it was a pretty stormy day for parts of the country.

"At the moment the region that's bearing the brunt of it has been definitely over Fiordland, Milford Sound.

"They've just had quite a relentless night of thunderstorms. We're talking about almost 4000 lightning strikes in the last 12 hours.

"A significant amount of rain with over 100mm in six hours up to 11am - that's the Milford Sound."

She said the actual rain band was just starting to move north.

In Queenstown flooding and debris at the One Mile roundabout has closed the road, Queenstown Lakes District Council said on its Facebook page.

"Council's roading contractors and emergency services are either onsite or working their way through the traffic to get there," the council wrote.

"Once in place, they will direct traffic away from the site so that they can fully assess the situation and begin clearing debris and getting the road reinstated as conditions allow."

The council said the ongoing heavy rain meant it was still an active site with lots of water movement and debris, affecting when the road could be reopened.

It said traffic is reportedly slow in either direction of Lake Esplanade, Glenorchy-Queenstown Road and Fernhill Road, and drivers should make plans to delay their journey for several hours.

The heavy rain and gale-force winds lashing much of the country has prompted MetService to issue a raft of orange warnings and watches.

Orange heavy rain warnings have been issued for the Tararua, Buller and Westland ranges, Canterbury and Otago headwaters, and parts of Fiordland.

Up to 180 millimetres was forecast for the Westland ranges on top of what has already fallen.

There was a minimal chance the warnings would be upgraded, but MetService encouraged people to prepare for possible surface flooding, slips and difficult driving conditions.

Orange strong wind warnings for severe gales have been issued for Wellington, Wairarapa and the Tararua District from Wednesday afternoon.

The gales could make driving difficult, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles, and might damage to trees, powerlines, and unsecured structures.

MetService has also issued yellow strong wind watches for Marlborough, Christchurch, Canterbury Plains, Queenstown Lakes, Central and North Otago and Dunedin.

Cooler air on the way for the far south on Thursday morning, bringing the risk of snow for some alpine roads ❄ pic.twitter.com/rcQAZenxSU

— MetService (@MetService) September 16, 2025

Road snowfall warnings have been issued for the Crown Range Road near Queenstown and the Milford Road on Thursday.

Up to two centimetres of snow was predicted about the summit of the Crown Range between 7am and 9pm.

In Dunedin 190 residents lost power on Wednesday morning after a tree hit a powerline, and it was not expected to be returned until after 4pm.

Aurora Energy said more than 380 people around Mosgiel including parts of Chain Hills, East Taieri, Kinmont Park and Saddle Hill lost power but it was restored to all but six customers by mid-afternoon while just over 190 properties in the Dunedin area are still without power.

In the Queenstown Lakes district, six properties in Lower Shotover lost power after a lightning strike on Wednesday morning.

Balmy 23degC in Christchurch

Meanwhile, as hundreds of Dunedin residents grappled without power and parts of the country were being inundated with heavy rain and gale-force winds, Christchurch is having a mini-spring heatwave.

Keats said the severe weather front has pushed the heat up in the southern city to a balmy 23 degrees.

She said the rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds were consistent with changeable spring weather.

"There is some good news amongst all of this because it's driving up the heat so at the moment central Christchurch has 23 degrees. That's what they're sitting on - it is very warm in the east.

"But then they have to expect to plummet back to wintery type temperatures - on Friday their high is only 12."

Warning for motorists

NZTA said State Highway 6 between Haast and Makarora has now reopened after it was closed by flooding earlier on Wednesday.

However, the Transport Agency warned some surface water may remain.

An area warning has been issued for surface flooding on State Highway 6 between Cromwell and Luggate in Central Otago.

NZTA is warning Wellington and Kāpiti Coast motorists to be extra careful overnight on Wednesday with the severe gales.

Truck, vans, campervans and motorcyclists should take care in exposed places such as Remutaka Hill, Wainui Saddle, and Transmission Gully.

Wellington Airport said so far the strong winds have not caused any issues for flights in and out of the capital.

Meanwhile, Wellington Harbour ferries have been cancelled while a large swell warning is in place on the Kāpiti Coast for six hours from 3am on Thursday.

It could affect the stretch of State Highway 59 between Pukerua Bay and Paekākariki.

MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris told Nine to Noon a lot of the weather was focused in the South Island.

"Parts of Fiordland and Milford Sound have already seen about 130mm of rain. Twelve hours ago they saw 100mm of rain in six hours."

Ferris said that rain was moving its way up the West Coast.

"Plenty of strong north-westerly winds ahead of it. Already seen some big gusts around Canterbury High Country - even parts of Canterbury plains as well."

Ferris said the already blustery wind in Wellington would increase throughout Wednesday.

He said there didn't look to be any flood risks at present but there had been plenty of thunderstorms around Fiordland.

Ferris said there would be "embedded very heavy rain" within the thunderstorms and anyone driving should "take it easy".

"If you do hear that thunder it is best to head indoors and wait for until it passes.

"Tomorrow it looks like that front moves over the North Island."

However, he said the weather wouldn't be as severe by Thursday.

"It's a busy weather day but this is a pretty springy system so we shouldn't be too surprised to be seeing this weather around the country.

Ferris said the country would get a brief respite and then a very similar system for the weekend.

Next week was also looking a bit unsettled, he said but MetService expected the weather to settle by October.

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