Wild weather lashes New Zealand by Tomasz Schafernaker
Strong winds, heavy rain and snow continue to lash New Zealand over the weekend, prompting the local Met Service to issue a number of warnings. Severe weather warnings have been issued from Northland in the far north, all the way down the eastern coast until Christchurch. Central plateau snow in the north has been affecting roads, with numerous ice warnings being issued.
After a dry start to the month in some northern regions, the recent snow fall has been welcomed across a number of ski resorts. In the resort of Turoa on Mount Ruapehu, they have had their biggest snow base in over 25 years for the time of year, a week before it’s due to open.
Forecasters predict that much of the heavy rain in North Canterbury and Kaikoura will ease over the next 12 hours. However further south in Wellington heavy rain and strong southerly gales are expected to lash the region, gusting up to 87mph (140kph) until late Monday.
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