A weather watch remains in place for the south of the South Island, as much of central New Zealand cops a battering from wind and rain this morning.
MetService said a watch for heavy rain continued over Southland, Clutha and Dunedin until early this afternoon. A severe gale warning is also in force for Otago.
The advisory comes after southwest gales of up to 140kmh were forecast for Dunedin and the east coast from Clutha to North Otago this morning.
MetService meteorologist Claire Flynn said Otago was in for southwest gales set to become severe this morning.
The conditions are affecting some southern roads. The Routeburn Kinloch Rd is flooded at Kowhai Bush, about 2km south of the Routeburn Shelter road.
The road is passable only for high clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles with experienced drivers.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council said drivers needed to take care on the Glenorchy Paradise Road, which was flooded at Cassels Creek.
A slip had been reported on the Skippers Rd at Bells Hill, with drivers told to exercise caution.
Queenstown Airport reported it was experiencing strong winds, but departing flights had not been affected so far. However, weather-related disruption throughout the country could affect incoming flights.
Ms Flynn said wind speeds in Otago would range from gusts as high as 120kmh further inland to 140kmh closer to the coast from this morning to early afternoon.
The area from Clutha to North Otago would experience the highest winds, Ms Flynn said.
Dunedin and the Clutha region were also on watch for rain until late this morning, with the possibility of surface flooding
Ferry services in Wellington were disrupted and power temporarily cut to 500 homes near Upper Hutt as severe gales hit the area yesterday.
With the strongest winds expected to hit in the early hours this morning, severe and possibly damaging gales gusting up to 160kmh were forecast over much of central New Zealand.
That included Wairarapa, Wellington, Marlborough and Canterbury north of Ashburton.
''Winds of this strength can bring down trees and powerlines, damage unsecured structures, lift roofs and make travel hazardous,'' MetService said.
Early yesterday, Metlink cancelled all Wellington harbour ferries before restarting limited services in the afternoon, while Wellington Electricity said one of its lines came down near Trentham around 4.30pm.
Heavy rain was expected to continue falling overnight in western and central New Zealand, particularly in Westland.
That included an extra 150mm of rain in Westland, adding to that which had already fallen since a low pressure hit New Zealand from the west yesterday.
- Additional reporting by NZME
