Icy blast coming for much of New Zealand this week
Radio New Zealand
A cold polar blast will hit this week, and forecasters are warning snow and ice are on their way.
:quality(70):focal(-5x-5:5x5)/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/tvnz/YCICRLX3DVE6DNL4JCRXPWRNU4.png "August snow disrupts roads in Canterbury and Otago.")
August snow disrupts roads in Canterbury and Otago. (Source: 1News)
MetService said most of New Zealand is expected to have single-digit temperatures by Tuesday night.
The temperature drop will bring heavy snow to parts of the South Island and Mt Ruapehu, meteorologist John Law said.
The dip in the thermometer would be a typical spring weather cold switch.
"Perhaps don't put away those jumpers just yet," Law said.
"What we will find is this big burst of cold air right across New Zealand, really dropping temperatures, bringing the return of some frosts, some pretty cold days and some very cold nights.
"We'll still find there's some showers coming through, but we'll lose this large area of wet weather."
Heavy rain lifts, but slips still affecting roads
Heavy rain warnings for northern and eastern parts of the North Island have been lifted, but the wet weather has caused problems on many roads.The Remutaka Hill Road on State Highway 2, between Upper Hutt and Wairarapa reopened around lunchtime, after earlier warnings that slips between Kaitoke and Featherston would take much of the day to clear.
An earlier reopening of the road was quickly reversed after a further slip, and Waka Kotahi warned the problem could be repeated.
In the Bay of Plenty, a stretch of State Highway 2 has been closed because of flooding at Pukehina; and State Highway 33 between Paengaroa and Okere Falls is blocked by fallen trees.
In eastern Bay of Plenty, a long section of State Highway 35 between Waihau Bay and Opotiki remains closed due to slips, after being closed in the early hours yesterday.
And motorists on the Coromandel Peninsula have been told to take extra care, with surface flooding, slips and debris on many roads.
Waka Kotahi said drivers should check that roads and highways are open before travelling.
rnz.co.nz
