1 Jan 2010

Severe weather for South Is, lower North Is

11:08 pm on 1 January 2010

MetService has issued a severe weather warning for the South Island and the lower North Island.

A vigorous front was expected to move over the South Island on Friday night and over the North Island on Saturday.

Severe gale force winds - of 130 to 140 kilometres an hour - starting in Southland were forecast to affect exposed places of Otago, Canterbury, Marlborough, Wellington and Wairarapa.

In much of the Southern Alps rainfall intensities are likely to reach 30 to 40 millimetres an hour in thunderstorms, which may also produce frequent lightning, with people warned to watch for rapidly rising waterways.