More wild weather is on the way for much of New Zealand this weekend, as the warm, windy start to summer continues.
MetService is forecasting a “weekend of two halves”, with fairly settled conditions on Saturday before wild winds and heavy rain hit the country on Sunday, the South Island in particular.
The forecaster is warning of potentially damaging gales and heavy rain and thunderstorms in the South Island and lower parts of the North.
An active front was set to sweep across the country on Sunday, bringing heavy rain to the west and severe northwest gales to many areas.
In the Canterbury High Country, where an orange strong wind warning has been issued, severe gales were expected to ramp up to a destructive 150kmh, MetService said.
There is also an orange heavy rain warning in place for Westland from 4am on Sunday, and a raft of alerts covering most of the rest of the South Island, including strong wind watches for all of Otago and Southland.
MetService said northwest winds could approach severe gale in exposed places in the South and there was a high chance of the alert being upgraded to a warning.
There is also a heavy rain watch for the Otago lakes and headwaters for Sunday.
