Weather: Cold front continues north after 160km/h gusts blast Fiordland

A strong cold front continues to bring severe weather to the northern South Island and far south of the North Island.

MetService says the front is moving northward, after blasting Fiordland with 160km/h gusts and the Canterbury high country with winds as strong as 150km/h on Saturday.

"Southern Wairarapa, Wellington and Marlborough can expect the winds to continue until 11pm tonight," MetService warns.

"In terms of heavy rain, so far, the headwaters along the Otago and Canterbury region has seen up 150mm of rain in the last 24 hours, much of that is south of the Rakaia River.

"Further north will continue to see rainfall as the front moves northward over the upper South Island today."

The start of next week will see cool minimum temperatures again with some South Island cities and towns below average.

"Below-average temperatures expected this week in the wake of the cold front crossing the country today and tomorrow," MetService says.

"From Tuesday a ridge of high pressure builds over the country with temperatures set to recover."