Heavy snow is blanketing Southland as severe weather sweeps across New Zealand.
The township of Gore was covered by a blanket of snow on Sunday morning.
The snow in Gore (Josh Highsted)
Gore resident Donna Terry said it's been "bucketing down" since 9am. Heavy snow has also continued to fall since early morning in the nearby towns of Nightcaps and Tinkertown, local resident Bruce Scott says.
Snow falling in Tinkertown on Sunday morning (Bruce Scott)
The New Zealand Transport Agency is warning drivers crossing the alpine passes to be cautious.
It's currently sleeting in Arthurs Pass, however 10 to 15cm of snow is expected to fall near the summit this afternoon, which could cause disruption to drivers.
Many ski areas are closed, or partially closed, due to high winds but they say it's snowing and skiing will be good when the winds drop.
"Good news is the new snow is awesome!" Treble Cone Ski Area near Wanaka in Central Otago posted on its Facebook page on Sunday.
Arthur's Pass (Emma Cropper/Newshub)
Seven to 15cm is also expected to fall on the Lewis Pass between Sunday and Monday morning.
On the West Coast contractors are working to keep the main highways open in the Lower Buller Gorge with reports of small slips.
There is surface flooding in many places with debris and trees down across roads.
100mm of rain fell in Haast, Franz Josef; and Whataroa, South Westland; and 150mm in Mokihinui, north of Westport.
Ohai (Dwayne Carey)
Ohai (Dwayne Carey)
Gales are being recorded as far north as Auckland and hurricane-force winds are slamming parts of the lower North Island, weatherwatch.co.nz says.
Gusts of more than 130km/h are affecting exposed parts of coastal Wairarapa, while Wellington has gales up to 100km/h on Sunday afternoon.
Traffic officials are warning people to drive carefully as they return to cities on the last weekend of the school holidays.
The Fire Service responded to about 20 calls over downed powerlines and trees due to winds across the upper North Island, although no major damage was reported, a spokeswoman said.
The lower North Island was a similar story, with call-outs about minor weather-related damage still coming in on Sunday morning.
Homes at Waiau Pa in rural south Auckland were flooded due a king tide and two roads in Porirua were closed for several hours due to waves overnight.
Winds of up to 140km/h are expected to batter Wellington, Wairarapa and the Marlborough Sounds until Sunday afternoon, with other parts of the lower North Island also in for gale-force winds.
Metservice says frequent heavy showers and squally thunderstorms will continue over the South Island on Sunday afternoon.
It says severe gale force winds are highly likely over central New Zealand on Monday morning, with the potential for heavy swells and big waves along the west coastline.
It also forecasts heavy bursts of rain across the country throughout the week.
Newshub.
