Watch a plane nearly get hit by lightning at Christchurch Airport

Dramatic footage has emerged of an Emirates A380 plane almost being struck by lightning at Christchurch Airport during the wild weather on Wednesday afternoon.

The video was provided to 1 News by Daniel Currie of Garden City Helicopters while he was at the airport about 3.30pm.

"The view out our window onto the tarmac today! The Emirates plane waiting for the storm to pass," a post said on its Facebook page.

Metservice issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Canterbury on Wednesday afternoon before the region was hit by a hailstorm. On Monday two people were also injured after a tornado hit the SaveMart tore in Sydenham . 

More than 1500 lightning strikes hit the South Island over a course of a six-hour period, along with reports of hail the size of golf balls damaging roofing and breaking windows.

A Fire and Emergency spokesman said they responded to nearly 40 call-outs in the South Island from noon on Wednesday.

Thirty of those were in Timaru, where hailstones as big as golf balls pelted the streets and thunderclaps echoed through the city.