A low pressure system has brought severe southerly gales to the lower North Island, forcing the cancellation of more than 60 flights at Wellington Airport and leaving thousands without power.

Mount Kaukau in Wellington recorded wind gusts exceeding 150 km/h overnight, while waves over 8 metres were measured at Baring Head in Wellington Harbour. More than 6300 people remained without electricity in Taranaki, with a further 2500 properties affected in the Wellington region as of 1pm Friday.

Transport disruption and emergency response

Air New Zealand chief operations officer Kate Boyer said the airline had cancelled domestic services to and from the capital, saying "strong winds are impacting Wellington this morning, with gusts exceeding 50 knots. As a result, we have cancelled a number of domestic flights in and out of Wellington".

Jetstar cancelled multiple Wellington services because of the strong winds, with the airline planning additional flights the following day to assist affected passengers.

A Wellington Airport spokesperson said cancellations were likely to increase as the forecast remained poor.

Fire and Emergency crews attended 78 weather-related incidents between 6pm Thursday and 9.30am Friday across New Plymouth and Wellington. The callouts included fallen trees and power lines, and roofs lifting from buildings.

Serious injury in New Plymouth

A driver was trapped and seriously injured when a tree fell on their truck on Carrington Road in New Plymouth. Fire and Emergency was called to the scene at 5.19am Friday, where firefighters freed the driver, who was taken to hospital in serious condition.

In west Auckland, a tree fell from a reserve onto an occupied residence while residents were inside, causing major structural damage.

Weather system and warnings

MetService meteorologist Heather Keats said the severe conditions were caused by a slow-moving low pressure system northeast of the country. "It's slow, it's spinning away. There's a whole bunch of fronts, essentially it's just a really messy setup," Keats said.

The system brought around 300 lightning strikes across the country over recent days. Gisborne recorded 35mm of rain in one hour.

MetService issued orange heavy rain warnings for the Tararua Range, Wairarapa south of Masterton, and Wellington excluding Porirua through 6am Saturday. Strong wind warnings covered Taranaki, Wellington, and Marlborough east of Seddon including the Sounds, with damaging gusts up to 130 km/h forecast in exposed areas, particularly north of Taranaki Maunga.

Wider impacts

Heavy rain caused the Moa Point outfall pipe to discharge untreated wastewater into Tarakena Bay.

The same low pressure system brought snow and ice to the South Island, closing parts of major state highways and trapping vehicles at Arthur's Pass.