A severe weather watch has been issued for parts of the South as an active front bears down on the country.
MetService issued the watch - for heavy rain and gale-force winds - this morning.
The forecaster said a ridge of high pressure over New Zealand would move off to the east tomorrow as a front, preceded by a series of weaker fronts, approached from the southwest.
The active front would move north over the country on Saturday and Sunday, bringing rain to the western areas.
A period of prolonged heavy rain was expected about Fiordland and southern Westland from early tomorrow, and this could spread into the Otago headwaters.
Northwesterlies were expected to rise to gale in exposed parts of the lower South Island tomorrow night, and there was the possibility of severe northwest gales about Fiordland, Southland, Central Otago and the Southern Lakes.
MetService said parts of the watch were likely to be upgraded to a warning, and further areas could be added.
The Milford Road (State Highway 94) closed late on Thursday afternoon from the Hollyford Rd junction to the Chasm due to forecast rising avalanche hazard. It was likely to remain shut throughout Friday, the Milford Road Alliance advised.
Meanwhile, Niwa meteorologist Ben Noll said the first six months of this year had been unseasonably warm.
From January to June this year, record or near-record high mean monthly temperatures were reached 163 times.
''Conversely, there were just three record or near-record low mean monthly temperatures.
''In other words, for every record or near-record cold temperature, there have been about 54 warm ones,'' he said.
The warm temperatures placed January to June 2018 as the fifth warmest start to any year on record, sitting behind 1998, 1937, 1999 and 2016, based on Niwa's Seven Station Series that began in 1909.
Every New Zealand main centre, with the exception of Dunedin, had had more wet days than normal, Mr Noll said.
