Waves of up to 9 metres have been recorded off Wellington as severe weather hits New Zealand, the national weather bureau says.
The wild weather has caused planes to be grounded, roads to be closed and disruptions to public transport.
New Zealand's MetService has severe weather warnings in place for heavy rain, heavy swell and strong winds for parts of the North and South islands.
Heavy snow down to 500 metres has also been forecast for northern parts of Canterbury and southern Marlborough, where a heavy snow watch advisory is in place.
Since 10pm on Wednesday, parts of Christchurch have seen up to 80mm of rain and wind gusts have peaked at 126kph in exposed places, the bureau says.
Wind gusts of up to 113kph were recorded at Wellington International Airport and swells of up to 6 metres forced ferry services across the Cook Strait to be cancelled on Thursday.
Wellington airport said on social media that most arrivals and departures had been suspended or delayed due to the adverse weather.
MetService meteorologist Luis Fernandes said the severe weather had been caused by a low moving rapidly off the east coast.
He said the weather would be easing into the weekend.
"Once this low moves away overnight, a ridge of high pressure moves over the country and we expect a much calmer day on Friday with just a few showers for the eastern parts of New Zealand," he said.
However, the temperature will drop over the weekend, especially in Auckland and Northland.
"Evenings and early mornings will be noticeably colder than they have been for a while up north so many people may find themselves cranking up the heating on Friday and Saturday." Mr Fernandes said.
The bureau said a low deepening in the Tasman Sea would bring the next change in weather.
Mr Fernandes said by Sunday it would be wet, windy and warmer in the far north, but cold and mostly dry for the rest of the country.
"The Tasman low will be the weather-maker for next week, as it very slowly approaches and eventually passes over the country, bringing an unsettled week with bouts of wet weather for most places," he said.
