Air travellers endured a "white-knuckle" ride as a flight twice aborted landing at Wellington Airport this morning buffeted by destructive gale force winds slamming the capital.
Many flights in and out of the capital are grounded as gales with gusts of more than 100km/h continue to hammer the city.
Power was earlier out to more than 850 properties across Upper Hutt and firefighters were busy securing roofs, trampolines and signs in downtown Wellington blown loose in the fury of this morning's gales.
Rain is now starting to add to the weather misery as the lower half of the North Island braces for a deluge this afternoon.
Flooding is already affecting roads across the top of the South Island.
#Wellington has recorded a max wind gust of over 100 km/h for 4 consecutive hours!
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) August 16, 2017
7-8am: 114.1
8-9am: 107.3
9-10am: 106.6
10-11am: 100.4
Strong winds whistling through the Wellington CBD have even taken out windows.
A window was blown out on the third floor of the building at 203 Willis St.
Businessman Brad Poulter said he was on an Air New Zealand flight that was diverted back to Auckland after two failed attempts to land.
He described today's wild weather as the worst conditions he had ever flown in, saying descending into the airport as a "white-knuckle ride".
"I've had some shaky ones when I've come in sideways to land but this was the most aggressive I've experienced."
Poulter said despite the captain's determination to land, after pulling up twice the decision was made to return to Auckland.
Other passengers have described their hair-raising flights into the capital this morning posting on Facebook about intense drops coming into land and bursting into spontaneous applause once the plane successfully touched down.
⚠️✈️ FLIGHT DELAYS - weather in Wellington is causing flight disruption. Check our Live Flight Info for updates: https://t.co/Mb0kfeI7f0
— Wellington Airport (@WLGAirport) August 16, 2017
A storm warning is in place for the strait with high seas and powerful 100km/h northerly winds forecast. Ferries across Wellington's harbour were cancelled just before 8.30am because of worsening conditions.
Max wind gust in Wellington (Greta Point) measured at 114.1 km/h in the last hour! Gusty all across the region - hold onto your hats! 🌬️ pic.twitter.com/yM0A71dgGG
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) August 16, 2017
The worst of the wind was expected in the Canterbury high country, Marlborough and Wellington, which can expect severe gales with gusts of up to 130km/h today.
Hold on2 ur hats (& tie down ur trampolines) #Wellington it's going to be windy this morn.Check Wind Warnings at https://t.co/Sd5C6lrsSL ^AC pic.twitter.com/0e6BJiKWrp
— MetService (@MetService) August 16, 2017
The winds were expected to be so strong they could pose a danger to motorists, topple trees and powerlines and destroy unsecured structures.
A Fire and Emergency spokesman said firefighters had been busy attending numerous calls to flying trampolines and loose roofs mainly on the south Wellington coast. Many signs in the centre of town had come loose and needed tying down. He expected the chaos to continue for many hours to come.
Just before 11am 859 customers in Birchville, Brown Owl, Elderslea, Ebdentown, Upper Hutt, Trentham and Totara Park lost power.
A gust of 125km/h has been recorded on Mt Kaukau in Wellington and 122km/h on Rimutaka Hill summit before dawn. Drivers are being told to take extra care crossing the hill and other highways across the lower half of the island.
A 100km/h gust had already hit The Brothers in Cook Strait, before sunrise.
Motorists travelling on southern Hawke's Bay highways were also being warned to beware of strong winds, particularly if they were driving high-sided vehicles or motorbikes.
Overnight heavy rain has deluged Fiordland, the Southern Alps and Westland ranges and is poised to drench Buller and Nelson this morning. A heavy rain warning was also in place for the Tararua Ranges and Mt Taranaki, where up to nine hours of non-stop rain has started falling.
Police this morning warned State Highway 6 between Rai Valley and Havelock was becoming increasingly "dodgy" and motorists were told to slow down and increase following distances.
STRONG WINDS: #SH2 Rimutaka Hill. Take extra care if you are on a high-sided vehicle or motorbike. #DriveSafe. ^MF pic.twitter.com/CqDbuhs2DO
— Waka Kotahi Wellington (@WakaKotahiWgtn) August 16, 2017
MetService forecaster Fulong Lu said an active front was moving up the country today preceded by strong northwest winds.
Heavy rain would continue to fall over the West Coast and a swathe of warnings are now in force for heavy rain in the South Island, Mt Taranaki and Tararua Ranges, and strong wind warnings from Canterbury to Wellington.
Warnings & watches updated for incoming front. Check if it affects your region at https://t.co/qHyE5zhh6X ^Cam pic.twitter.com/Up5HDM7JQC
— MetService (@MetService) August 15, 2017
Already 101mm of rain had fallen in Milford Sound in just six hours and another 100mm was expected today.
The deluge was starting to affect back-country roads around Central Otago where streams are swollen by rain and melting snow.
12:40PM Due to high water in the fords Mt Aspiring Road is closed to two wheel drive vehicles beyond Glenfinnan Bluffs. Please take care
— QLDC (@QueenstownLakes) August 17, 2017
Large amounts of rain, including thunderstorms, is expected in the Westland ranges and forecasters warn the deluge could lead to rivers and streams rising rapidly as well as slips and flooding.
Wet for the west 🌧 & windy 4 some further east 💨 is the story 4 severe weather over the SOUTH ISLAND 2day. Check https://t.co/qHyE5zhh6X ^AC pic.twitter.com/813O87jVn7
— MetService (@MetService) August 16, 2017
Emergency services were called to the scene about 8.30pm.