Heavy rain and gales are turning to biting cold as a cold snap blankets the country with wintry temperatures.
The South Island was expected to drop below 10degC on Thursday, while Queenstown was expected to fall to 4degC.
The North Island was similarly affected, with overnight temperatures dropping to around 10degC.
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2:30pm: Police are warning South Island motorists to expect longer travel times with surface flooding, roads reduced to one lane, and heavy traffic.
The Lewis Pass and SH65 are open but only one lane is in use. Access from Picton to Christchurch is via the alternate South Island state highway route.
Meanwhile, SH7 from Reefton to Greymouth is still closed, however the water level is dropping at Stillwater so it is possible the road will be reopened in the next few hours. SH6 from Westport to Greymouth is also closed, but it will also hopefully be accessible later on.
However, SH73 from Otira to Jacksons, which is closed due to a significant slip, will not open at all on Thursday.
Police are reminding motorists to maintain safe following distances, obey all signage on the roads and drive at a safe speed appropriate to the road and weather conditions.
12:30pm: The wintry weather appears to have moved north as Auckland is very grey and drizzly. Metservice expects it will clear, but a southwesterly wind will bring a temperature drop. Maungawhau Mt Eden is barely visible from the Newshub newsroom window.
11:13am: Wellington Mayor Justin Lester has tweeted pictures of blue skies in the capital, showing that even a 'bomb low' weather system can't beat Wellington on a good day.
"Once more Wellington's weather unfairly maligned. #weatherbomb my derriere," he wrote.
11am: The connection from Christchurch to Picton via Lewis Pass is now open to a single lane, NZTA says.
- SH6 Murchison to Westport - road closed from the intersection with SH65 through to the intersection with SH67, due to a slip
- SH73 Arthurs Pass to Jacksons - road closed due to flooding, slips and fallen trees. The road is unlikely to re-open today
- SH7 Reefton to Greymouth (Stillwater Underpass) - road closed due to flooding
10:58am: Heavy rain on the West Coast is easing, Metservice says, and winds have dropped in Wellington with blue skies appearing. The temperature will be chilly though as the southerly wind moves through this evening, with the chance of a thunderstorm.
10:38am: NIWA Weather says Arthur's Pass got 44.8mm of rain in one hour on late Wednesday, making it the wettest hour on record there since recordings began in 2005.
10:24am: Cable Car Lane is reopened after it had been cordoned off early on Thursday.
10am: NIWA Weather has revealed the top 3 rain amounts so far from the storm: 339mm at Ivory Glacier, 309.5mm at Mueller Hut, 307.4 mm at Arthur's Pass.
It's 75 percent of the normal January amount for Arthur's Pass. The Selwyn District Council has issued a boil water notice for properties on the Arthur's Pass water supply.
9:30am: The Rimutaka Hill road, SH2 from Upper Hutt to Featherston, is back open. NZTA says extra care is required when driving.
9:10am: NZTA has posted images of the slip across SH7 between Otira and Jacksons near Arthur's Pass.
8:55am: There's a line of rain and a few thunderstorms moving towards Auckland and Northland, which has had a very dry summer so far.
8:40am: Turn on your headlights if you're driving in bad weather, NZTA says.
8:25am: Martinborough resident Jocelyn Kebbell told Newshub it's 23degC and no wind yet where she is. Metservice says for Wairarapa and Wellington, severe northwest gales are expected in exposed places.
Meanwhile in the Hawke's Bay it's still a warm summer, with 27degC highs in Napier and Hastings.
8:20am: Clayton Anderson from Wellington Council spoke to RadioLive about the wild weather. Listen here. The call was followed by bread delivery driver Dean in Southland. "She's pretty blustery down here, there's a bit of rubbish on the road, it's flicking the van around a wee bit," he says.
8:16am: Wind gusts recorded so far: 154km/h Rimutaka Summit, 118km/h Wellington airport, 172km/hr near Mt Hutt, 124km/hr Banks Peninsula, Metservice reports.
8:04am: Heavy rain is hitting the Tararua mountain range and Taranaki this morning, Metservice says.
7:55am: Wellington's Cable Car Lane has been cordoned off due to high winds. The Cable Car can be accessed through the Fujitsu Tower food court.
7:53am: 250mm rain recorded in last 24 hours at Arthur's Pass, Metservice has tweeted. "If you drank all rain collected by a 10mx10m house, you'd drink 1L every 3.5sec," the forecaster says.
7:40am: Severe weather is causing flight delays and cancellations, Wellington Airport says. It's telling travellers to check its website for updates.
7:30am: Strong winds have closed the Rimutaka Hill road north of Wellington. Multiple slips in the South Island have forced four state highways to close, NZTA says.
- SH73 Arthurs Pass to Jacksons - road closed due to flooding, slips and fallen trees. This road is unlikely to re-open today
- SH73 Arthurs Pass to Kumara - road closed due to flooding, slips and fallen trees. This road is unlikely to re-open today
- SH7 Reefton to Greymouth (Stillwater Underpass) - road closed due to flooding
- SH65 Springs Junction/SH6 intesection - road closed due to flooding
- SH7 The Lewis Pass - road closed due to flooding
- SH6 Westport to Greymouth (just north of Barrytown) - road closed due to flooding
- The Alternate SH1 Route from Picton to Christchurch is closed at SH65 and SH7
Warnings are in place for:
- SH2 Waipara to Springs Junction
- SH 6 Hokitika to Haast
Wellington Harbour ferries are cancelled because of the rough weather. No interisland ferries have been cancelled.
Surface flooding has been causing trouble in many areas of the South Island overnight. Strong wind is expected to bring down branches and damage powerlines across the country.
MetService meteorologist Claire Flynn is urging motorists to take care on the roads.
"We're forecasting gusts of 150 to 160km/h for a lot of areas - these are exceptionally strong gusts, so anyone driving needs to be careful, but particularly those in high-sided vehicles."
The strongest gust so far has been 148km/h, recorded on Mt Kaukau.
Ms Flynn says people should tie down any loose objects around their homes.
"People really need to be aware of the potential damage these gusts bring, and make sure they secure trampolines, stuff like that."
The stormy weather is set to ease slightly late Thursday, but a second low front is set to converge across the country.
"In the weekend we've got another low coming from the north late Saturday and into Sunday, which will bring more rain - which will be heavy possibly for some areas."
The Southern Alps and the West Coast were hit by torrential downpours yesterday Mt Cook had 160mm of rain in just 24 hours, and one station in the Southern Alps recorded 31mm in one hour.
Arthur's and Lewis passes are both closed due to slips. A number of state highways in the South Island have also been closed, including SH6, SH7, SH65 and SH73.
Pike River widow and West Coast local Anna Osborne told Newshub on Wednesday the weather had been extremely bad.
"We've actually had our tent at the picket line and the gazebo go flying, and we've got streams and creeks that are at their maximum capacity," she told RadioLIVE Drive.
"It's actually really, really horrible to be honest; it's not a nice night to be out on the roads either."
Further north, trolley buses were cancelled in Wellington, replaced by diesel buses.
Southlanders have been warned to stay away from the water until the forecasted storm has passed.
"Unless absolutely necessary, stay off the water until the significant weather event has passed," says Southland harbourmaster Lyndon Cleaver.
Mr Cleaver is also asking boaties to check their equipment around Stewart Island and Bluff and make sure their boats are secure.
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