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Firefighters in Wellington and Wairarapa have attended almost 100 weather related call-outs this morning as strong winds hit the area.
Fire shift manager David Meikle said the winds, which are reported to have reached 160km/h, were starting to ease at lunchtime in the capital. The storm is expected
to move north during the afternoon.
He said fire crews have been attending felled trees, windows blown out and roofing ripped off houses.
Mr Meikle said one house in the Wellington suburb of Brooklyn had almost all its whole roof ripped off.
The high winds have caused flights at Wellington Airport to be suspended though some flights were operating again from 11am. Air New Zealand spokeswoman Tracy Palmer earlier this morning described the airport as "marginal" and said 15 of the airline's flights had been cancelled by mid-morning with 1500 people affected.
In all, 24 domestic flights were affected by the bad weather.
Rimutaka Hill was also closed until at least 12pm "due to excessive winds", Inspector Marty Parker said.
Radio Network weather analyst Philip Duncan said there was a report of wind gusts of 160km/h hitting Mt Kaukau in the capital.
Earlier, he reported gusts of 102km/h downtown in Wellington. Further north, the Manukau Heads were experiencing gusts of 83km/h.
MetService forecaster Ian Miller said the Rimutaka hills have already experienced winds of 140km/h and "it probably hasn't peaked yet'.
He said winds could reach 160km/h and cause problems for campervans, motorcycles and high sided trucks.
Mr Miller said the Cook Straight will also experience strong winds with Brothers Island experiencing 115km/h and he wouldn't be surprised if there are some delays.
Meanwhile, Paierau Rd, north of Opaki and Masterton, is closed after a truck and trailer rolled.
Inspector Parker said there are no injuries and emergency services are at the scene.
He said it was not clear if the accident was due to the high winds in the area.
Further north, Auckland will experience a drop in the temperature before the heavy rain and winds hit.
Mr Miller said the bad weather will hang around until Friday when an anti-cyclone will pass near northern New Zealand and could bring fine weather for the weekend.
Interislander spokesman Nigel Parry said ferrys are running as normal. He said despite the high winds, the sea conditions are not bad enough to effect ferry sailing times.
The conditions were bringing heavy rain to parts of the South Island and some snow to Queenstown today.
Mr Duncan said the heavy winds will hit lower lying areas later this morning.
He said Aucklanders have woken to a calm morning but ferry trips could be disrupted later in the day.
MetService yesterday issued a severe weather warning for wind and rain to hit the North Island today before moving on to the rest of the country tomorrow.
Weather ambassador Bob McDavitt yesterday said northwest gales may reach 150km/h on the higher hills of Wellington and 120km/h from Auckland to Marlborough.
"People in the North Island and northern parts of the South Island need to brace themselves for a few days of wind and rain," Mr McDavitt said.
Temperatures would remain high with an average in Auckland of 20C.
Mr Duncan said today's storm will affect many people. "The big difference to all the other storms, is that they've mostly affected the remote places - Fiordland, Stewart Island and the likes.
"This one, unlike previous storms, is all over the North Island," he said.
Winds of up to 130km/h will mainly hit the top of the South and all of the North Island today, Mr Duncan said, with gales reaching 150km/h set to hit parts of Auckland's Waitakere Ranges and the Manukau Heads.
Last night he said winds were beginning to build up, but this afternoon would be "the main event. It's going to be pretty windy".
"We're just advising people that even in downtown Auckland, some of the winds could gust at 130km/h. That's enough to throw people while they're standing at the traffic lights."
