Wild weather: 'The worst of it has passed'

File photo / Joel Ford

Aucklanders can look forward to a balmy Friday, with today's wet weather now heading east.

The worst of the blustery gales and heavy rain which battered much of lower New Zealand in the past two days is expected to clear overnight and tomorrow morning.

MetService meteorologist John Law said those on the East Cape and in northern parts of Gisborne were likely to have the last remnants of the stormy weather tomorrow morning but "the worst of it had passed''.

Heavy rain hitting central New Zealand between Taihape and Taupo should also clear overnight.

Mr Law said clear skies and a daytime temperature of 18C had been forecast for Auckland tomorrow, with today's wet weather, which saw about 35mm of rain over 18 hours, pushing offshore.

Those in the South Island and in Wellington should also expect calm weather.

However, temperatures in Canterbury, where thousands of people are still without power, were expected to cool, with daytime temperatures around 13C and night-time temperatures down towards freezing.

Christchurch electricity lines company Orion said about 9000 people were still without power this afternoon. Most were in the rural region west of Christchurch. However, some smaller areas within Christchurch city were also affected.

Chief executive Rob Jamieson said power had been restored to all the company's major rural substations apart from one in the Burnham area.

"We expect it will take another two days to get the high voltage supply back to that substation. Our network in this area was weakened by earthquake damage from the Greendale fault,'' he said.

He also warned some customers could remain without power until Monday due to the "severity and extent of the damage'' from this week's wild weather.

In the capital, winds are expected to be back to normal tomorrow.

MetService expected temperatures would be around 12C during the day.

Flights in and out of the airport should also be back on schedule, with much of the backlog from Yesterday's cancelled flights being cleared.