There's a silver lining to the polar blast over the last couple of days - it's brought plenty of much needed rain to drought-stricken North Canterbury.
Farmers in the area are praising the heavy downpour, saying they've had more rainfall in 48 hours than they did in the entire month of August.
"It was a bloody amount of rain," says farmer Dan Hogan. "We had 27ml of rainfall over the storm, compared to 20ml in the month of August."
The official drought period for the area was extended to two years in June, making it the longest the country has ever seen.
Mr Hogan says while bitter southerly winds, snow and hail aren't ideal for new born lambs it was a "major blessing" for farmers desperately needing new grass.
"It isn't enough to break the drought, but was perfect timing for grass growth - so we are just hoping a Norwest won't come and dry it out again."
The wider Canterbury region was bombarded by strong winds and cold temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday, with 1700 households losing power in the area and trees toppling in the area.
Emergency services were called to at least 46 weather-related incidents in the early hours of Thursday morning - the worst involving two people who were injured when a tree fell on a car in Christchurch.
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