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Heavy snow has closed State Highway 1 between Dunedin and Waitati.
Cars and trucks had been stuck on the Leith Saddle on Monday morning, before NZTA announced the closure of the road just after 9.30am.
Meanwhile snow has fallen in Dunedin city, while several road snowfall warnings are in place throughout the South.
At about 1pm traffic was moving very slowly along Great King St, and backed up to Dundas St, as cars looked to access the the State Highway, which remained closed as snow continued to fall.
NZTA said work was continuing in the hope SH1 would reopen later on Monday.
Snow has also settled in the hill suburbs of Dunedin.
State Highway 87 from Outram to Middlemarch has also been closed and will remain so overnight due to snow, NZTA said.
An update was expected at 9am on Tuesday.
Route 1 from Pine Hill to Waitati had been entirely cancelled.
It follows a warning over the weekend for drivers to take extra care on their way to work on Tuesday, as snow was forecast to fall to near sea level around Dunedin on Monday night.
MetService meteorologist Devlin Lynden said snow had affected the southern regions over the weekend, and would continue to fall on Monday, through until Tuesday.
“There's a good signal for snow along that southeast coast of the South Island again through [Monday] evening as the freezing level drops a wee bit.
“So we've sort of settled into a bit of an unstable southwesterly flow with plenty of moisture breezing past the country and clipping through the Southland, Clutha and Dunedin areas, as well as cooler temperatures.
“We're looking at snow at really quite low levels. In fact, in the Dunedin forecast right now, we're talking about snow lowering to near sea level on Monday night.”
Mr Lynden believed it was likely to fall in the hill suburbs of Dunedin, but not in the lower suburbs.
“It's likely that you'll wake up and be able to see some about, so take care driving to work.”
He said it would be a similar case for the rest of Otago and parts of Southland.
“There's a few spots inland, particularly the ranges and stuff where they're really lighting up with good amounts of snow, all the way down to the Catlins and Clutha, up to Dunedin and parts of North Otago as well — it’s really looking like they'll see snow at those low levels.”
Road warnings issued
MetService has issued several road snowfall warnings as a result.
The Dunedin to Waitati Highway (SH1) was under a warning from midnight Sunday through to 8pm Monday night, with 1-3cm of snow expected at the highest part of the road.
A warning was also in place on the Milford Rd (SH94) until 6pm on Monday, as showers turned to snow. MetService said 4-10cm could fall at the summit.
It remains open and was expected to stay open overnight, although disruptions and temporary closures were possible, NZTA said.
The Crown Range Rd remained under a warning until 7pm on Monday, while a warning for the Lindis Pass (SH8) was in place until 6pm.
State Highway 87 from Outram to Middlemarch has been closed, NZTA said about 10.10am.
State Highway 85 between Kyeburn and Palmerston remained open, but was subject to an area warning due to snow.
Caution was also urged on State Highway 88 at Sawyers Bay due to surface flooding, NZTA added.
‘Weather whiplash’ ahead
He said the weather trend for the rest of this week was for more “weather whiplash”.
Fronts would switch between west-southwest to northwest and back again throughout the week, bringing heavy rain and cold winds to parts of the regions on some days, and warm temperatures up to 18˚C on other days.
“Things will warm up a little bit as those winds turn slightly more north-westerly on Wednesday, but then by the end of the week, it's really much of the same again.
“We're heading into spring and things are likely to remain pretty variable at this time of year.”
Meanwhile, road crews have worked in trying conditions to clear some of the numerous slips that have blocked State Highway 6 between Makarora and Lake Hāwea, in Central Otago.
Rock and other debris was cleared from 10 of the estimated 30 slip sites in the closed SH6 area on Sunday, with the material shifted to temporary roadside stockpiles until it can be properly disposed of later.
The closed section of SH6 will remain fully closed at least until Monday, when a further assessment will be made about the timing to reopen the road to at least one lane.
In Queenstown, crews had been responding to flooding, clearing debris, reopening roads and checking infrastructure across the district over the weekend.
Good progress has been made, but the scale of clean-up in some areas was significant and has caused traffic congestion, and several roads remained closed as of late on Sunday. — Additional reporting Matthew Littlewood and Allied Media
john.lewis@odt.co.nz