The wild weather battering New Zealand is moving north, as Wellingtonians are urged to stay away from the coast since huge swells are forecast for the region.
Heavy swell warnings are in place from Cape Terawhiti to Turakirae Head to Mataikona, as well as strong wind warnings for Wellington and Wairarapa.
MetService forecasted southerly combined waves of five metres early on Thursday afternoon. They are expected to rise to seven meters late Thursday afternoon and then ease back down to five metres on Friday morning.
The Wellington Region Emergency Management Office is warning people to be careful when driving along roads exposed to the sea during this time, as the swells can cause surface flooding and debris to wash up.
A heavy rain watch is also in place on Thursday for the eastern hills of Wellington and Wairarapa south of Featherston and a road snowfall warning for Remutaka Hill road.
Rain is expected to spread across the North Island on Wednesday afternoon, but will mostly clear up in the South Island.
South Island
It comes amid a week of wild weather for the south, as Canterbury and Otago continue to respond to severe weather across the region.
A massive clean-up is ahead for parts of Otago and Canterbury after a storm that flooded homes and farms, ripped up roads, cut off towns and sliced a bridge in half.
Strong wind warnings and watches are still in place for Canterbury, as well as snowfall warnings for the Canterbury High Country north of the Rangitata River, and inland parts of the far south of Marlborough including the Kaikoura Ranges until noon Thursday.
A heavy rain watch has been issued for Banks Peninsula from 2am Thursday until noon.
WeatherWatch has forecasted that Southland and a fair chunk of Otago will stay mainly dry on Wednesday, with a few light drizzles in parts of north Otago.
A low deepens east of New Zealand overnight with some heavy rain developing for the lower North Island, and there is a chance some heavy rain may spread to north Canterbury on Thursday morning.
Friday morning onwards sees a chance of heavy frosts about some inland areas, especially the inner South Island if skies are clear and winds are light enough.
Road closures
Many Otago and Canterbury roads are still closed due to damage caused by the recent few days' torrential rain, slips and snow.
"People should expect surface flooding in places and drive to the conditions, especially around our road crews and Stop/Go people," the system manager for Waka Kotahi NZTA Graeme Hall said.
The third key route to Omarama via the Lindis Pass/Tarras State Highway 8 remains closed on Wednesday with a number of slips and damage to clear.
The Aoraki/Mt Cook Highway SH80 is due to reopen on Wednesday afternoon, possibly after 2pm, given a fresh slip came through in the morning. The highway will be closed overnight from 6pm to 7am.
SH 6 west of Murchison remains closed after rockfall at Dellows Bluff, between Murchison and the O'Sullivan Bridge/State Highway 65 turn-off, before 4am this morning.
"It means there will be no direct link between Nelson and the West Coast, via the Buller Gorge or Springs Junction. It also means travellers heading to Nelson from Christchurch will not be able to use the inland route and will have to go up the East Coast via State Highway 1," Waka Kotahi NZTA systems manager for the top of the South Andrew James said.
Waka Kotahi NZTA will give an update on the road's status on Friday.
