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Wild winds have brought down powerlines and trees in the Wellington region, while a mammoth 11-metre-high wave has been recorded off the South Island coast and snow has closed North Island highways.

The treacherous winds and seas come as New Zealand wake to freezing temperatures, with snow falling to low levels in the North Island - forcing the closure of part of State Highway 1 on The Desert Road through the Central Plateau.

SH1 Taihape to Rangipo, SH46 Rangipo to Tongariro, SH47 Turangi to National Park and the Taihape-Napier Road are also closed, the NZTA advised.

Show is also affecting the Napier-Taupo Rd (SH5), on the Remutaka Hill Rd linking Wellington and Wairarapa, and the Lewis Pass (SH7)  in the South Island.

MetService has issued a number of severe weather warnings and watches in and around the country. It has warned of severe southwesterly gales for Wellington, southern Wairarapa, northern Hawke's Bay and Gisborne this morning.

There is also a warning of heavy snowfall over Taihape, in the Rangitīkei District, the Ruahine Range and the Tararua Range.

It was -1C in Hamilton and 0C in Waiouru early today, while towns like Taupo and Taihape were also barely raising the mercury. All major cities were struggling in single numbers.

One truck driver told Newstalk ZB he'd faced treacherous conditions, heading south towards Taihape, through the night.

Strong gusts of up to 120km/h in and around Wellington were expected until late this morning, weather experts say.

A monster wave measuring 11.82m high was recorded east of Banks Peninsula in Canterbury, Niwa said just after 6.30am. And a maximum wave height of 7.49m was recorded at Baring Head off Wainuiomata.

Monster waves had also been sighted on the coast and MetService said the largest wave measured by a wave buoy overnight was 6m high.

"The main thing now is just that we're on a very gradual easing trend for the first half of the day and the second half of the day, things will ease quite quickly away," a spokesman said.

WIND WHIPS WELLINGTON

Central northern fire communications said they were called out to four weather-related incidents early on Thursday.

Fire crews went out to Nelson St, in Naenae, Lower Hutt, shortly before 5am, where powerlines had come down.

The same thing happened just after 3am in Avalon, where a tree was blown onto powerlines, also bringing them down.

A spokeswoman said they were also called out to the suburb of Seatoun, where plastic roofing sheets had come loose at a property there.

Police were called to Moa Point, after a report of rocks on the road.

A MetService spokesman said gusts of between 120km/h to 125km/h had been recorded in the Wellington region overnight - but was expected to ease back from late this morning.

"We're on a very gradual easing trend now for much of the morning and for the rest of the day, really, we're not going to see much significant weather," he said.

TODAY'S FORECAST

A high-pressure weather system is gradually coming over the country from the west and the northwest, which will bring finer weather and more settled weather for many parts of New Zealand from Thursday and through to Friday.

• Auckland: 13C temperature high, 6C overnight low. Fine spells, showers becoming isolated this morning and clearing this afternoon.

• Kaitaia: 15C, 6C. Fine spells. The odd shower, mainly in the morning. Southwesterlies.

• Whāngārei: 14C, 5C. Fine spells, the odd shower, mainly in the morning.

• Hamilton: 11C, 0C. Fine with a frosty start. Southwesterlies.

• Tauranga: 13C, 3C. Mainly fine with early frosts possible. Southwesterlies.

• Gisborne: 11C, 6C. Showers developing in the morning, possibly heavy, easing in the evening. Strong, gusty southerlies.

• Palmerston North: 10C, 3C. Showers clearing in the morning to fine spells. Gusty southwesterlies, easing in the afternoon.

• Wellington: 9C, 6C. Showers, easing in the afternoon. Severe gale southerlies, gusting 120km/ in exposed places, gradually easing.

•  Nelson: 12C, -1C. Fine with early frosts. Southwesterlies dying out in the afternoon.

• Christchurch: 8C, -1C. Showers gradually easing and becoming confined to Banks Peninsula by evening. Southwesterlies strong at first.

• Queenstown: 8C, -3C. Morning cloud then fine. Southerlies dying out.

• Dunedin: 9C, 4C. A few showers, clearing in the afternoon. Southerlies gradually dying out.

• Invercargill: 9C, -3C. Some morning fog and one or two showers, then becoming fine in the evening. Light winds.

Comments

Well odt, you certainly dislike the South Island, I counted over 20 mentions of the North Island and only 7 of the South Island and you claim to be for the South Island.

Ed replies: The story comes from The New Zealand Herald