Air New Zealand has cancelled Tuesday morning flights to Wellington due to the high winds and wild weather expected to hit the country.
Flights from Christchurch, Blenheim, Auckland, Tauranga, Timaru, Rotorua and Nelson between 6.30am and 8.20am have been cancelled, Air New Zealand's website says.
"Customers with Wellington flights are strongly recommended to consider deferring non-urgent travel, and those who do need to travel should keep an eye on the airline's Arrivals and Departures page for the latest information," Air New Zealand said in a statement tonight.
"The airline's contact centre is experiencing very high call volumes and all customers are kindly asked to defer non-urgent calls."
Travellers with Wellington flights were told there was limited availability on flights tomorrow.
A severe weather warning has been issued for parts of New Zealand, with gales gusting up to 140km/h in exposed areas.
MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said the rain will be the "most impactful" on Tuesday, and will lash the West Coast of the South Island all week.
"We're likely to see over 500mm of rain in the West Coast of the South Island," he said.
Strong northwesterly winds are expected to accompany the heavy rain and blow around the centre of the country and eastern areas of the South Island, he said.
Thunderstorms are likely to hit the area on Tuesday and slips, while flooding and road closures are possible.
A High Risk of Thunderstorms for western South Island areas tomorrow, possibly bringing hail up to 20mm diameter! tomorrow afternoon, cold front brings a Moderate Risk of thundery showers to Auckland and Northland. https://t.co/loi9zNx1m7 ^RK pic.twitter.com/hNulxL00e8
— MetService (@MetService) December 1, 2019
Aucklanders will likely see a less dramatic smattering of rain on Tuesday, with a burst of rain and a chance of thunder forecast in the City of Sails in the afternoon.
But the temperatures are expected to stay warm in the city, with expected highs of more than 24C and warm overnight temperatures this week.
Auckland is in for a burst of rain tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon, and there is a risk of locally heavy falls – and even the chance of a localised downpour. MetService will continue to monitor and update the thunderstorm risk at https://t.co/flgBIbhNrz in the coming 24 hours. https://t.co/RITNfzAe27
— Auckland CDEM (@AucklandCDEM) December 2, 2019
It's a similar story in the Bay of Plenty, with the chance of a few showers on Tuesday, northwesterly winds and balmy temperatures.
Napier is in for a scorching few days, reaching a high of 29C on Tuesday and soaring to 31C on Thursday.
And it won't cool down overnight, with expected temperatures on Monday evening to shoot 8C higher than the normal recorded overnight temperature during December.
Wellington's in for a windy week, where a severe weather warning for gales has been issued.
Ferris said gales could gust up to 140km/h in exposed places, but the temperatures are expected to remain warm.
Here's a look at NZ's forecast weather extremes for Tuesday—100 km/h+ wind gusts are possible in parts of both islands 💨 pic.twitter.com/G7gmjerR8C
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) December 2, 2019
Strong Northwest flow brings gales to parts of NZ from this evening. A Severe Weather Warning for gales gusting 120kmh has been issued for Wellington, With watches for potential severe gales covering Wairarapa, Marlborough and Canterbury High Country. https://t.co/NQBonCMXTZ ^RK pic.twitter.com/VtKIOdYEha
— MetService (@MetService) December 1, 2019
Christchurch won't be affected much by the West Coast rain. It's expected to see cloudy and warm weather with northwesterly winds and temperatures spiking above 25C.
Dunedin will be a few degrees cooler than Christchurch in the next few days, and will see a bit of rain, Ferris said.
Rain will also hit Invercargill this week, but temperatures are expected to peak at 20C or a few notches below.