Video: Instagram/@Craig_l
The strongest winds to hit Dunedin this year felled trees, downed powerlines and scuppered travel plans at the weekend.
MetService meteorologist Devlin Lynden said the city recorded gusts of 77km/h at about 3pm on Saturday — its strongest of the year so far.
Port Chalmers also reached gusts of 126km/h at 5pm.
The radar at Nugget Point recorded winds of 151km/h at 4pm, while the radar at Lamb Hill, north of Dunedin, peaked at 179km/h at 2pm.
A Dunedin Airport spokeswoman said four return flights were cancelled due to wind in the city on Saturday — three flights from Christchurch and one from Auckland.
A video online showed Air New Zealand flight NZ675 make two attempts to land in Dunedin before having to turn back to Auckland.
