Wind watches upgraded to orange warnings for Wellington and east coast

Gusts of up to 120kmh can be expected in exposed places in Wellington and the east coast of the lower North Island, as MetService upgraded its wind watches to orange warnings.

Heavy swells had already led to the cancellation of all ferry sailings across the Cook Strait as a cold front brought “unseasonably cold” temperatures to the country.

Orange wind warnings were issued for Wellington, Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay, south of Napier.

“A deepening low lies east of the North Island, directing a strong south to southwest flow over the eastern North Island and northeastern South Island,” MetService said.

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It was expected to move away from the country on Thursday, but strong south to southwesterly winds were expected to last until at least the afternoon.

Large southerly waves were also forecast to affect southern and eastern coasts of the lower North Island and the South Island.

Interislander cancelled all sailings on Wednesday due to large swells and wind in the Cook Strait. Bluebridge Ferries also cancelled all of its passenger sailings due to the weather conditions.

The Bluebridge Ferries website said it aimed to resume passenger sailings on Thursday evening at 8.30pm from Wellington and Friday at 2.30am from Picton.

Affected Bluebridge ticket holders would be offered a full refund due to extremely limited space on sailings in coming weeks.

Heavy swell warnings remained in place for Wellington and Wairarapa until 3pm on Thursday with swells expected to peak at 7 metres late on Wednesday evening.

At the Picton Interislander ferry terminal, German tourists Silke and Holger Christian said they ran into “a bit of trouble” after their ferry was cancelled at the last minute.

The pair had rented a campervan in Christchurch to drive to Auckland but were planning to drive straight back to get on flights to Auckland instead.

“The flights cost us $800,” Silke Christian said.

Christian said she and her husband were in the country for just six-weeks and have had to change their plans considerably due to the lack of ferry spots available.

They had been told on Wednesday morning their ferry had been cancelled, with the next available ferry on May 9.

Stranded outside Avis car hire at the Picton Ferry terminal, American tourists Joyce and Bing Liu were told their ferry sailing had been cancelled after they dropped off their rental car.

They were trying to arrange a way of getting up to Auckland in order to fly home, and had booked a Sounds Air flight from Blenheim to Wellington at 6am on Thursday. With no rental cars available in Picton they had booked a shuttle to Blenheim, but were struggling to find a hotel there.

“I love New Zealand, but what can we do?” asked a somewhat demoralised Joyce Lui.

Interislander Operations general manager Duncan Roy said passengers and freight customers would be transferred to alternative sailings.

“We regret the inconvenience to some of our customers but safety has to be our top priority,” he said.

A refund could take up to three weeks depending on the payment method, it advised customers.

Bumpy landing

Passengers on an Air New Zealand flight into Wellington had a bumpy start to the day after a landing failed due to unexpected crosswinds.

A passenger on an Air New Zealand flight from Christchurch to Wellington on Wednesday morning said the plane “bounced on to the runway” when landing before immediately taking off again.

An Air New Zealand spokesperson initially told Stuff the flight was forced to abandon its landing due to the presence of birds on the runway.

However, Air New Zealand later clarified that the pilot abandoned the landing due to crosswinds. A note had been issued to pilots this morning about birds on the runway, the airline’s spokesperson said.

A front, which moved onto the lower South Island from the southwest overnight on Monday, brought snowfall and frosty temperatures on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, temperatures plummeted to below 10 degrees around the country.

Te Anau had the lowest temperature in the country with -0.2C on Wednesday morning. Auckland hit a low of 13C, Wellington 6.1C and Christchurch 4.8C.

Road snowfall warnings were issued in the South Island but had since expired.

Freezing temperatures were expected in central Otago overnight.

Wednesday and Thursday would be “unseasonably cold”, Baillie said.

MetService data showed the temperature fell from about 17C at midnight to about 11C at Auckland Airport at 7am.

“Once the southerly arrived there was a reasonably sharp drop in temperature because of the cold air mass coming in … and also the normal cooling that happens overnight,” MetService meteorologist Andrew James said.

The strongest wind gust recorded in the Auckland region since the southerly arrived was 70kph at Tiritiri Matangi lighthouse in the Hauraki Gulf in the early hours of Wednesday.

MetService is forecasting a couple of cool but sunny days for the city, with a high of 17C on Wednesday afternoon, then an expected low of 8C early Thursday.

If it did drop to 8C that would make it one of the five coldest March temperatures recorded in Auckland, although it would be right at the end of the month, James said.

By the weekend, the temperatures around the country were expected to return to average.