Wild weather has continued to batter much of the country today, leaving thousands of properties without power.
A strong wind warning remains in place for the Marlborough Sounds, Nelson and the West Coast north of Aoraki Mount Cook until 6pm today.
About 10,000 properties lost power in the Tasman district after trees came down on powerlines, but Network Tasman aimed to restore the vast majority by 4.30pm.
Powerco’s website shows about 1000 properties around the Coromandel Peninsula, Palmerston North and Taranaki remain without power.
About 700 customers are still without power in the Paraparaumu area.
One NZ said more than 50 of its cell sites are out of action because of power outages.
MetService reported the wettest weather has moved off Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, with just the odd shower remaining.
However, rain has moved further south and several heavy rain watches and warnings remain in place for the next couple of days.
Gusty southeasterlies continued today, especially over the South Island where an orange wind warning remains in place this afternoon.
A strong wind warning was in place for Marlborough Sounds, Nelson and the West Coast north of Fox Glacier for much of the day, with Wellington under a wind watch until 9pm.
Heavy rain watches were in force for the Tararua District and Wairarapa until 4pm, and the Kaikōura Coast until 9pm.
Winds on Wednesday will not be as strong as the past few days but will still be noticeable for most.
Thunderstorms may occur throughout Wednesday, with localised intense rain and strong gusts possible.
This covers Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki, Manawatū-Whanganui, Kāpiti, and Wairarapa, and northern Wellington in the North Island, as well as the West Coast region in the South Island.
Tauranga City Council has cancelled all five of its community New Year’s Eve events because of the bad weather forecast.
The council said weather reports indicated heavy rain and strong winds during event set-up, with conditions highly likely to continue into Wednesday. It said fireworks displays would hopefully still take place from various locations around the city on New Year’s Eve.
Strong winds brought down trees in parts of the South Island overnight.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said State Highway 7 over the Rahu Saddle, between Reefton and Springs Junction, was affected.
SH6 also had trees coming down, particularly through the Whangamoa Hills between Nelson and Blenheim.
Firefighters were still being called out into the evening across the North Island, taking the total number of weather-related jobs to about 140 in Auckland, Northland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.
PowerCo said hundreds of properties remain without power north of Whanganui, and around Palmerston North and Feilding.
Campground managers in the North Island are hoping for sunnier weather leading up to New Year’s after a lashing of wind and rain.
Wild weather battered much of the North Island on Monday, disrupting campers, causing power outages and downing trees.
In Auckland a roof was torn off an unoccupied home in Hillsborough, as fire crews responded to more than 100 weather-related callouts.
Yvette Davey, manager of Kūaotunu Campground on the Coromandel Peninsula, said the weather had caused a bit of disruption on Monday.
“We have had a couple of campers whose tents were destroyed so they had to go home. Other than that people are hunkering down, it’s settled down here,” she said.
Leanne Mills, the owner of Long Bay Motor Camp in Coromandel, said campers were not too put off by the wet weather.
“We’ve had a bit of rain [on Monday] but we’ve been lucky campers have just used it as a crash day, just chill out, read a book, sleep,” she said.
“We’ve just got continued support from our regulars, mostly 90% Kiwis, so they’ll come and just meet up every year with the same people year after year and they don’t really care if it rains.”
Festivalgoers for New Year’s events such as Rhythm and Vines in Gisborne have been warned to watch out for wild weather on the roads.