Front due to hit South Island as northern areas calm

The yacht Sardonyx, grounded at Northcote, could not be salvaged yesterday. Photo / Dean Purcell

While the end may be in sight for most of New Zealand, a new front will cross the South Island to ensure the wild weather is not going away just yet.

MetService has issued a severe weather watch for coastal Southland, eastern Otago and western Nelson.

A front is forecast to cross the South Island today and the lower North Island early on tomorrow morning. This front is expected to bring another spell of strong or gale west to northwest winds in many areas and a warning is in place from Canterbury to south of Hastings, including Wellington.

Wind gusts could reach close to 110 km/h in exposed areas of coastal Southland, eastern Otago through to this afternoon and parts of Nelson west of Motueka later today. MetService said this was just below warning criteria, but that a watch would be maintained for the time being.

Although it will not be as cold as recent days, the combination of strong winds and showers over coastal Southland and South Otago is likely to put further stress on new born lambs and calves.

This week's storm has already cost Southland and Otago farming communities at least $50 million in lost production and caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of animals.

The storm has also caused widespread damage around the country with up to 80,000 homes losing electricity at different times - about 6500 of which were still out yesterday.

Strong winds also brought down trees and tore roofs from buildings.

In Auckland, gusts reached just over 70km/h yesterday, bringing down a 20m gum tree on the North Shore. The tree clipped the edge of a house, tearing down guttering, and forced the evacuation of 120 children from a neighbouring school after concerns about the stability of two other trees.

Firefighters were also kept busy with about 15 weather-related jobs, but that was down from around 80 on Wednesday.

However, WeatherWatch head analyst Philip Duncan yesterday said Auckland, Whangarei, Hamilton, Tauranga and Taupo could all look forward to lighter winds this weekend.

He said temperatures were also expected to be warmer in most parts of the country.

That will be good news for North Island parents, who will be looking for ways to entertain children while they are on school holidays for the next two weeks.

Yesterday, rough weather on the Waitemata Harbour made it too dangerous for a salvage company to retrieve the 11m yacht Sardonyx, which was semi-submerged and washed up on the rocks near the northern end of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

The interior was badly damaged and parts of the boat were scattered for hundreds of metres along the rocks.

Meanwhile, motorists in the central North Island are being urged to drive with care after two slips on State Highway 1 near Taihape yesterday morning.

While the road was reopened in the afternoon, there was still a lot of surface water and high winds, which made driving conditions difficult.

New Zealand Transport Agency spokesman Anthony Frith said: "We are asking people over the next two or three days to take care."

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: NZPA