Newborn lambs dodge polar blast

Last week's polar blast and snowfalls that swept through the North Island did not leave the lambing season in tatters, as previously feared.

Federated Farmers president Charlie Pedersen said there were some losses due to ewes not being able to clean up lambs born in that weather quickly enough before hypothermia set in.

"But because it's gone over fairly quickly and subsequent days have been relatively kind, the losses haven't been too bad.

"Our information says it certainly wasn't as bad as the worst-case scenario.

"We always lose some lambs anyway. It's nothing unusual."

The wintry spell brought snow to the central North Island and as far north as the Gisborne ranges, which were blanketed under 10cm.

Desert Rd temperatures plummeted as low as -4C on Friday, prompting fears for the survival of new-born lambs in nearby rural areas.

The lambing season in the central North Island generated tens of millions of dollars a year, Mr Pedersen said.

He did not know how much last week's storm would have cost farmers.

Severe winds and ocean swells also halted flights, rail services and ferry crossings in Wellington, disrupting the plans of thousands of travellers.

MetService forecaster Oliver Druce said towns and farming areas were mostly spared the heavy snowfalls that covered the mountains.

"It was quite spectacular in terms of how cold it was, but for most places the amount of snow was not that spectacular."

Meanwhile, conditions up north were much more amiable yesterday, with Aucklanders basking in sunny conditions of 18C. Some rain is expected to fall late today - as well as in Northland and the Bay of Plenty - with conditions worsening tomorrow with strong southwesterlies, more showers and a high of 15C.

Further south, the MetService issued wind warnings overnight, with gale gusts forecast to reach 120km/h in the Wairarapa, the hill suburbs in Wellington, Marlborough and North Canterbury.

Heavy rain hit Fiordland and the ranges of Westland yesterday, but not at levels unusual for the area.

Fiordland, Southland and South Otago can also expect snow down to 300m tonight.


Counting cost

Hawkes Bay farmers were yesterday assessing stock losses after a three-day cold snap.

Federated Farmers spokesman for the area, Kevin Mitchell, said the bad weather had been "pretty distressing" for farmers in affected areas.

They had moved as much stock as they could into shelter.

Mr Mitchell said the wind chill was the most severe aspect of the bad weather. Sheep were quite happy to handle the snow, but they felt the wind chill in the same way people did.

Federated Farmers spokeswoman for the Manawatu and Rangitikei region Ruth Rainey said most of the farmers in the area had finished lambing.

Ms Rainey said there would be some stock losses for farmers between Napier and Taihape but there had been no indication of numbers yet.

- NZPA