Strong winds disrupt Wellington flights

Photo: RNZ
Photo: RNZ
Strong winds at Wellington Airport have caused 11 flights in and out of the capital to be cancelled, and hundreds in the city are without power.

In a statement today, Air New Zealand said flight NZ417 was returned to Auckland after it was unable to land due to gusty weather, and customers would be put on the next available service.

Customers were advised to check their flights on the Air New Zealand app and website for updates.

Wellington Airport warned there might be further disruptions.

Meanwhile, almost 250 properties were without power in Wellington. 

Crews were working to fix the fault after an outage happened at 11.30am, affecting more than 20 streets in Petone.

Wellington Electricity said the outage was caused by damage to its overhead network equipment and it was estimated power would be restored by 5pm.

MetService has forecast a heavy rain watch and a strong wind watch, with gusts expected to reach up to 100km/h for Wairarapa, Wellington and the Marlborough Sounds through to 4pm today.

The north-to-northwest winds may approach severe gale in exposed places, it said.

Heavy rain watches were also in place for the Westland ranges and the headwaters of the Canterbury lakes until 9pm.