After days of torrential rain, "things are looking up" for the South Island, Metservice says, with just showers expected for Canterbury on Tuesday.
A deluge on Sunday and Monday caused significant flooding throughout Canterbury, washing away bridges, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents and closing key roads. Many fields in the southern region remain underwater while some highways continue to be out of action.
Metservice lifted its Red Warning for mid-Canterbury on Monday night, but warns that "rivers will remain swollen for sometime".
"Floodwaters will also take time to recede, please continue to follow advice from local authorities, civil defence and emergency services."
The outlook for Tuesday is positive, however.
Metservice said on Tuesday morning that its ceilometer at Oamaru Airport has reported clear skies for the first time since 2am on Friday.
"Showers and cloud are clearing from the south on the east coast of the South Island, and we have reached the end of any remaining Warnings and Watches. Things are looking up!"
At about 8:15pm on Monday night, the forecaster said most of the rain had eased to showers across Canterbury, with just an Orange Warning in place until 12am on Tuesday.
"Any remaining showers through Canterbury and southern Marlborough should clear by early Tuesday afternoon, and no further rain is expected for the remainder of the week."
Weatherwatch projects that Canterbury will see showers clear on Tuesday afternoon and most other regions will be dry apart from southern Fiordland, "which may see showers pick up this evening".
Speaking to The AM Show on Tuesday morning, Selwyn District Mayor Sam Broughton said rain was still falling in the rural Canterbury area, but fortunately the swelling Selwyn River had receded overnight.
The district was hit particularly hard by the wild weather, with residents of the Selywn Huts settlement ordered to evacuate on Sunday. A state of emergency was subsequently declared as the area was battered by torrential rainfall.
"We're going to be focused on property checks, we're going to want to get water supplies back up [and running], we're going to want to help people get moving again, and we're going to keep checking those river levels as they continue to fall," Broughton told The AM Show.
He added the Selwyn River's stopbanks had held up "really well" despite the rising water levels.
People who have yet to return to their homes may be able to do so on Tuesday, Broughton said, but officials are still assessing the safety of the surrounding roads.
"Let's just check on the road conditions before you start heading out thinking today is going to be normal."
