The wild weather that has pummeled New Zealand over the last 48 hours is set to ease but MetService is warning of strong winds over the coming days.
MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes told AM on Tuesday more than 123,000 lightning strikes have hit New Zealand in June - the second-highest ever in a calendar month.
He put it down to New Zealand experiencing a marine heat wave with a mixture of cool air, and warm water sparking a large number of lightning strikes.
"We've just had a La Niña year and there's a lot of factors that go into that. Marine heatwaves themselves aren't necessarily that uncommon and we do get them from time to time and we've just been at a time where basically everything came together at once - perfect timing," he told AM co-host Ryan Bridge.
"When you take some colder air from the deep south and push it up over warmer water, that introduces a heap of energy and suddenly things start to go bang."
McInnes said he's expecting the weather to calm down in the coming days.
"We are not fine and light winds as much as we would like it to be. It's still a little bit wet and a little bit windy but a lot better than what we've just had, but that's also not hard to beat," he said.
The easing of the weather comes after large parts of the country were hit by thunder, lightning, hail, heavy rain, snow and strong winds while Waikanae got hammered by two tornadoes.
North Island
A strong wind warning remains in place for the Tararua District and Hawke's Bay until 10am on Wednesday while a strong strong wind watch remains in place for much of the North Island.
A heavy swell warning is in place for the Kapiti-Porirua Coast, which could bring waves as high as 7 metres.
The strong swells have been damaging to parts of the Manawatu overnight.
Emergency management in Foxton Beach deployed multiple flood barriers with seven-metre swells hitting during the high tides overnight.
Waves started rolling up onto Marine Parade, and flooded the Foxton Beach wharf with the Horizons Regional Council warning flooding is a possibility at high tide on Tuesday.
South Island
Road snowfall warnings remain in place for most of the South Island's main alpine routes with more flurries expected on Arthurs and Lewis Passes in Canterbury early on Tuesday, with heavier snow expected in Central Otago and Fiordland.
Waka Kotahi said State Highway 94 between Te Anau and Milford is likely to be closed until Friday - due to avalanche activity.
Watch the full interview with Tui McInnes above.
