New Year’s Eve weather: Rain cancels Christchurch fireworks and concert, wind and showers set to ease near midnight

The weather is already putting a damper on New Year’s Eve festivities, forcing one concert and fireworks show to be cancelled, but showers and high winds are tipped to ease for most areas as midnight approaches.

A MetService-issued heavy rain watch for Wairoa, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay will remain active until 10pm today, with isolated thunderstorms and torrential rain possible until then.

Planned New Year’s Eve events in the area were still likely to go ahead, with conditions forecast to change this evening. The Rhythm and Vines music festival in Gisborne is coming to an end tonight.

In Christchurch, though, heavy rainfall overnight last evening has left the grounds at Hagley Park North sodden and forced the council to cancel the earlier children’s event and midnight countdown and fireworks show.

📡 Radar update
A low-pressure system to the east spreads rain across the North Island today 🌧
Heavy Rain Watches are in force for eastern areas 🟡
Rain should ease off in the north towards NY, but showers stick around south of Gisborne and New Plymouth 🌦 pic.twitter.com/A9e3OGDLte

— MetService (@MetService) December 30, 2024

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) said Christchurch received more than a third of its average December rainfall in the last 24 hours, with 46 millimetres of rain recorded in the city and 73mm recorded at Akaroa.

For Auckland, meanwhile, MetService forecast the expected heavy and thundery showers about the west of the city to clear and become fine into the evening. Strong winds gusting to 90km/h in exposed places should also ease, the forecaster said.

The first day of 2025 was likely to be partly cloudy with some isolated showers in the city, but these should clear in the evening, MetService said. It was expected to reach 22C tomorrow and 23C on Thursday.

Strong wind in Northland, Coromandel, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taupō regions was also slated to ease into the evening.

Tuesday's emojicast:

         🌤️
           🌦
             🌦🌦
            🌤️🌤️🌤️🌧️
         🌦🌧️🌧️🌧️
             🌧️☁️🌧️
                   🌧️🌧️
                      🌧️
 
             🌤️☁️
          🌤️🌧️
        🌤️🌧️🌧️                   🌧️
      🌤️☁️
  🌤️🌤️🌤️
🌤️🌤️☁️
   🌤️

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) December 30, 2024

Wellington’s wind was forecast to ease closer to midnight, but showers were expected to continue tomorrow.

Showers were forecast for Christchurch into the night but winds there were also likely to ease. A cloudy first day of the year was forecast for the Garden City, with showers becoming less frequent from late morning and clearing in the evening.

Western and southern parts of the country were expected to avoid the worst of the weather.

Clear skies were expected in Queenstown tonight, MetService meteorologist Ngaire Wotherspoon said, with the Rhythm and Alps music festival in its second night at Cardrona Valley.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.

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