About 15 caravans became airborne during a freak wind event in Central Otago this afternoon.
One fire appliance from Cromwell responded to the incident in Gilmore Rd, near Mount Pisa, at about 12.50pm.
A Fenz spokeswoman said about 15 caravans, which were understood to be used for seasonal worker accommodation, became airborne in sudden winds.
"The fire crews are thinking it’s a very localised weather event," she said.
The caravans were unoccupied and nobody was injured.
"Haven't had any other weather events [reported], just this bizarre one."
MetService has strong wind warnings and watches in place for much of the South Island and they, along with police, are warning motorists to take extra care when driving.
High-sided vehicles, including caravans, campervans and trucks are particularly at risk of being blown off course.
An intense front is expected to move north over the South Island and then up the lower North Island, with heavy rain and severe gales likely for many places between Sunday morning and Monday, MetService forecasters said.
The west of the South Island is expected to be particularly hard hit by rain, after flooding and slips closed major roads there for almost half of last month.
As much as 250mm of rain could fall in some Westland areas between 6am and 9pm on Sunday, MetService said, with possible thunderstorms and peak rainfall up to 35mm per hour. Through Sunday and into early Monday the headwaters of Canterbury lakes and rivers could also expect up to 250mm, parts of the Grey and Buller Districts could expect up to 160mm in places and parts of Tasman could expect up to 150mm of rain.Waterways could rise rapidly, with surface flooding, slips and difficult driving conditions all possible.
In the North Island, heavy rain could hit the Tararua Range, from late Sunday into Monday, with up to 100mm of rain possible.
The Transport Agency said State Highway 6 - the main corridor up the west side of Te Waipounamu - could shut at short notice if the storms create fresh slips or rockfalls.
Rockfall protection work was still being carried out on the highway, as part of the clean-up from the November flooding, NZTA central South Island system manager Mark Pinner said, and there were concerns that heavy rain could trigger more."We are monitoring the area around Epitaph Slip this weekend, and if rainfall does intensify on Sunday, we may close that section of route ... either because of fresh activity, or as a precautionary approach. This will be the largest rainfall since we had the original issues there," Pinner said.
MetService warned that people should stay up to date with the latest forecasts.
- Additional reporting RNZ
