Smoke from Australia's devastating bushfires could hang about New Zealand until at least Christmas, forecasters say.
Almost 100 fires continue to burn in NSW, and the blazes have now spread to South Australia. The premier of South Australia, Steven Marshall, said 72 homes were lost in the Adelaide Hills.
Smoke from the blazes has also spread over Adelaide, with authorities issuing a statewide smoke alert.
According to NIWA forecaster Chris Brandolino, smoke from across the Tasman has moved over the South Island and may impact parts of the North Island later on Monday.
Depending on the air flow from Australia, smoke could return to the South Island and other parts of the country.
Brandolino said looking ahead, some smoke may find its way to NZ through to Christmas.
"Thereafter, we shouldn't see any smoke from Aussie fires in New Zealand through to this Saturday," he told Newshub.
A MetService spokesman said there shouldn't be any smoke across the South Island on Monday.
"Our current wind flow is from the south and it needs to be from the northwest to get the smoke across the Tasman Sea," he said.
At the weekend, some airflows were coming out of Australia with some smoke and dust, although it was not significant, WeatherWatch head forecaster Philip Duncan told Newshub.
"[There's] not much in the way of smoke over the next couple of days with more southerly flows in the New Zealand area - but there will be some smaller amounts potentially still caught up in the higher up atmosphere."
