The wild weather that lashed Auckland on Wednesday morning is moving south with MetService issuing new weather warnings and watches for parts of the country.
It comes after Aucklanders experienced a wet and wild night, with wind, rain, hail and lightning lashing the city, while lanes on the Harbour Bridge were forced to shut before reopening on Wednesday morning.
Strong wind watches and warnings are in place for parts of New Zealand, with a strong southwest flow developing over the country.
From 1am to 11am on Wednesday, wind gusts were expected to reach between 70km/h and 85km/h in Auckland and the Harbour Bridge was under an amber alert, issued by Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).
The Harbour Bridge was very briefly reduced to two lanes before 6:30am each way as severe winds hit the city. All lanes are now back open again but reduced speed limits remain in place.
"Expect delays. Take extra care especially if you are in a lighter or high-sided vehicle," Waka Kotahi said.
"Motorists are urged to drive to the conditions, look out for the electronic message boards which will indicate lane closures and reduced speeds, and stay within their lane while travelling across the bridge.
"Drivers of high-sided vehicles and motorcyclists are advised to avoid the Auckland Harbour Bridge and use the western ring route on State Highways 16 and 18."
Commuter chaos
Along with the disruptions on the Harbour Bridge, trains are also affected in Auckland on Wednesday morning.
Auckland Transport (AT) said the eastern line services are suspended but the western line is operating as normal after disruptions earlier in the morning.
"Expect delays and cancellations to all train services. Check Journey Planner to find alternative travel options and live departures before you travel," AT said.
State Highway 1 Puhoi to Warkworth Motorway northbound was closed for a time on Wednesday morning due to a car fire but has since reopened.
Earlier in the morning, a potentially serious crash on the Southern Motorway blocked two-right lanes northbound after the East Tamaki Rd on-ramp.
The crash is now cleared with all lanes available but NZTA warns motorists to "expect delays" northbound.
Meanwhile, further south, the SH1 Desert Road is closed between Waiouru to Taihape because of snow.
Wild weather hits Auckland
Auckland was lashed by wind, rain, hail and lightning overnight, which saw a massive tree brought down by a gust of wind in the suburb of Epsom.
MetService told Newshub the City of Sails recorded 83 lightning strikes over land between 7pm on Tuesday and 7am on Wednesday, with around 100 if you include strikes over the water too.
"The line of lightning strikes in the map running from Manukau to Howick would have been pretty noticeable and woken a fair few people," a MetService spokesperson said.
Auckland Airport saw 4.6mm of rain overnight, with the largest accumulation in the region at Hunua, which recorded 16.5mm.
MetService said these are not big rainfall accumulations, but a couple of stations did see heavy rain - 6 to 10mm an hour.
Along with lightning and rain, there has also been wind too, with gusts up to 95km/h at Whangaparaoa and on the Harbour Bridge.
MetService told Newshub there is an easing trend in the weather for Auckland, with the wind set to drop off during the afternoon and showers gone by the evening.
Weather warnings and watches
A strong wind watch is in place for the top of the North Island, with Northland south of Kawakawa, Auckland including Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula and Waikato north of Huntly all expected to see southwest winds, which could approach severe gale in exposed places.
The watch is in place from 1am to 1pm on Wednesday for these areas.
Strong wind is also expected to lash coastal areas from Tokomaru Bay to Wairoa, with a watch in place from 7am to 7pm on Wednesday.
The strong wind will move down the country on Thursday with a watch issued for Dunedin and North Otago from 3am to 3pm.
Further south, Clutha and Southland south of Lumsden including Stewart Island is also in the firing line with a strong wind watch in place from 11pm on Wednesday until 1pm on Thursday.
A road snowfall warning is in place for the Desert Road until 6pm on Wednesday.
