In Pictures

New Zealand lashed by storms

South Island hit by heavy snow and winds, with record waves off coast.

Winter storm hits New Zealand — Heavy snow and strong winds have battered New Zealand.

A winter storm bearing powerful winds disrupted air traffic across New Zealand and cut power to thousands of homes, forced schools to close and generated record-sized waves.

The capital, Wellington, was blasted on Friday with winds of more than 80 miles an hour. The gusts disrupted bus, rail and road transportation, brought down trees and power lines and ripped tiles from suburban roofs. About 28,000 homes in Wellington lost power.

Ocean waves measuring almost 15 metres were recorded near Wellington by New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research – the largest it had recorded near the capital since it began taking measurements in 1995.

The waves washed away parts of some coastal roads and seawalls. The storm also brought heavy snow to some parts of the South Island.

National carrier Air New Zealand canceled all Wellington flights at the height of the storm, and flights from Christchurch and Queenstown were also canceled or delayed. Forecasters expected conditions to improve over the weekend.

Flooded fields covered in snow — The severe weather also affected parts of the South Island that are still recovering from flooding after another storm struck a few days ago.

Smiles in the snow — Up to 1.5 metres of snow fell in the mountainous regions of the South Island.

The snow surprised the wildlife — In the last 24 hours, another 30mm of rain, sleet and snow has fallen in Christchurch, which is half the monthly average. This could be the city(***)s wettest June on record.

I hope no one was spending a penny... — As snow blanketed the South Island, the North Island was battered by strong winds.

Windy Wellington — The city of Wellington, notorious for its strong winds, saw gusts of windy up to 200kph on Mount Kaukau.

Waiting for the wild weather to pass — The strong winds forced many flights to be cancelled and left thousands of people without power.

An angry sea — The strong winds whipped up the waves, which inundated many seafront homes.

Better take the day off — The winds are now easing, but the weather is expected to stay bitterly cold over the next few days.