Weather latest: flood risk drops as high tide passes with little drama

On-edge Kiwis who have been watching the weather bomb make its way down the country only need to withstand the conditions for a few more hours.

The risk of flooding in the Lower North Island and below is already beginning to reduce as high tide came and went without much drama.

While the sub-tropical storm appeared to have spared the central and lower North Island from severe damage overnight - after causing the death of a woman in Rotorua, flooding to parts of the Coromandel and Thames region and grounding flights in Auckland - MetService earlier today warned of potential flooding in the Wellington area.

It’s a little damp out Eastbourne way. #wellingtonweather pic.twitter.com/i8mwThZapO

— Melissa Nightingale (@mel_nightingale) January 5, 2018

Most of the region has escaped unscathed, but cars heading into and out of the Lower Hutt suburb of Eastbourne are having a difficult time of it and large waves breaking along the coastline, in Wellington Harbour, are washing over the main route.

Stop-go workers are busy directing traffic along the coastal road, where waves have been swamping the road.

Debris was strewn across the road around the bays and cars were forced to pull into opposite lanes in an effort to avoid the sea water crashing on to the land.

High tide was just after 9am, meaning the ferocious waves are on their way out. While high tide is due again about 10pm, the winds should have died down by then, taking much of the flood risk with them, Metservice said.

A combination of the high tide, a king tide yesterday, the strong winds, and the storm surge created the flood risk, meteorologist Tom Adams said.

Parts of the South Island such as Banks Peninsula also faced the same risks, but the heavy winds are expected to ease by 3pm.

Marlborough also has a strong wind warning out.

"Waves out in the Cook Strait at the moment have levelled off at around four and a half metres or so. The max waves have been up around 7m. They could grow a little bit yet but the risk is less tonight."

While the flood risk is waning, residents still need to prepare for hazards caused by high winds, gusting up to 120km/h in exposed places.

The highest wind gust for the country in the past few days was in Northland on Thursday when the storm began, at 161km/h.