Lynette Jones of Wainuiomata braving the weather for an appointment in Wellington.

Gusts of up to 150kmh were recorded as a fierce storm moved up New Zealand.

Thousands of people lost power as wild weather moved north on Thursday - but most were eventually put back on the grid.

In Wellington contractors worked hard to restore power to hundreds of people across Plimmerton, Kaitoke, Te Marua, Waitangirua and Cannons Creek.

MetService MetService National Forecast for Friday 8th September.

There had been more than 3000 people without power in the central North Island earlier on Thursday, blamed on a large tree falling on a powerline on the Paekakariki Hill Road.

A fallen tree and power lines closed the Rimutaka Hill Rd on the Upper Hutt side on Thursday evening.

It was re-opened later in the night after contractors cleared the road.

MONIQUE FORD/FAIRFAX NZ A wintry blast, slamming into the lower North Island with snow, hail, and powerful winds, has already closed highways, disrupted transport and caused power outages.

Meanwhile, around 250 homes in Canterbury were still without power on Thursday night, down from several thousand.

READ MORE:

* Landslide hits Milford Sound building

* Coronet Peak skiers race to snow

* Live: Wild weather sweeps across New Zealand

* Fierce winds cut power, topple trees as wild weather moves north

It has been a rough day for flying, with several flights in and of Wellington delayed due to weather and some cancelled.

Murray Wilson/ Fairfax NZ. Power failure shuts The Plaza shopping centre in Palmerston North.

An Air New Zealand flight due to arrive from Christchurch at 7.30pm on Thursday has been cancelled, the Wellington Airport website said.

It was reported that some passengers were stuck on the tarmac after landing.

A Wellington Airport spokeswoman said several gates were not being used due to severe weather conditions, and that had created a backlog.

RHYS CHAMBERLAIN/FAIRFAX NZ Snow turned Arrowtown into a magical looking place on Thursday.

Cook Strait ferry service Interislander has suspended bookings until Sunday due to rough sea conditions forecast for the next 48 hours.

The company will not be taking any bookings for Thursday, Friday or Saturday, it said on its website.

It will continue to monitor seas conditions and will re-open bookings once the swell has calmed.

MONIQUE FORD / Stuff.co.nz Wellington's winds can be wild, but not quite as wild as they used to be.

At 8pm, MetService meteorologist Allister Gorman said the winds were still strong around the upper South Island and lower North Island.

'"Around Banks Peninsula there are still gusts of about 100kmh. Kaikoura had gusts of 105kmh, so it's still pretty windy. Around Wellington and coastal Wairarapa, we can still expect some strong winds through to early Friday morning."

Gorman said a gust of 150kmh was recorded in the Cook Strait and many spots, including Castlepoint and Wellington Airport, had gusts over 100kmh.

MetService Snow on top of the Rimutaka Hill Rd at 8am on Thursday morning.

Canterbury and inland Otago had some heavy snow, falling to 200m in many parts of the South Island. Snow also fell in Wellington.

Hail caused some problems on the roads, Gorman said. Sea swells along the eastern coasts of both island were around 6-7m, with some 10m swells.

MetService issued gale warnings for Wellington, the Wairarapa and the Chatham Islands on Thursday night, and overnight, easing on Friday morning. Wind gusts of 120kmh were expected.

QUEENSTOWN LAKES DISTRICT COUNCIL Snow falls on the Crown Range road between Queenstown and Wanaka.

Most power cuts were due to trees or branches falling onto power lines.

Orion chief executive Rob Jamieson said emergency crews were working in difficult conditions to get the power back on in Canterbury.

"We are making good progress in the hardest hit areas, however, there will be a small number of customers without power overnight.

Stuff.co.nz Hail, snow and high winds have swept through New Zealand

"We appreciated that for customers still without power it is difficult and frustrating, and we apologise and thank them for their patience."

LANDSLIDE

A landslide hit a building in Milford Sound at 10.18am on Thursday, but no-one was injured or trapped.

MONIQUE FORD/FAIRFAX NZ Waves lash Owhiro Bay on Wellington's South Coast.

The building was a storage building near the Milford Sound Visitor Centre. An emergency response team had attended, along with fire crews from Te Anau.

The storm that appeared suddenly on Wednesday has created havoc on roads and highways – particularly at Coronet Peak, where the road was closed for a time to clear a traffic backlog stretching over 8 kilometres.

Gales created swells of about six metres in Cook Strait on Thursday, leaving both passenger and freight sailings in the lurch.

Is the weather wild where you are? Send your newstips, photos and video to newstips@stuff.co.nz

Two people were injured when strong winds smashed a tree onto their car near Tai Tapu, south of Christchurch, about 8.20pm on Wednesday. They were taken to Christchurch Hospital suffering moderate injuries.

The extreme weather prompted Wellington police to ask motorists to delay non-essential travel.

RADIO NEW ZEALAND Kiwirail cancels Cook Strait ferry sailings because of 10 metre swells.

GETTING BETTER TOMORROW?

MetService say the southerly covering the North Island and northern South Island is expected to slowly ease during Friday.

Wind gusts of 120 km/h are expected in Wellington, coastal Wairarapa and the Chatham Islands on Thursday night, but ease as morning breaks.

SUPPLIED Brrr. There was a bit of difference between the temperature in Wellington and what it actually felt like on Thursday morning.

Although still gales, the winds about Banks Peninsula and the Kaikoura Peninsula have eased below severe gale force and the warning for these areas is now lifted.

About the central North Island snow showers are continuing but the threat of widespread heavy snowfalls has now passed and the snow warning is also lifted.

POWER CUTS FOR WINDY WELLINGTON

JOSEPH JOHNSON/Stuff.co.nz Severe gales blew a tree from Eliza's Manor on Bealey onto Bealey Ave in Christchurch. It blocked both two lanes heading west.

Wellington had woken from a blustery night on Thursday morning, when southerly winds reached 105kmh at Wellington Airport and 133kmh at the high peak of Mt Kaukau, MetService meteorologist April Clark said.

Gusts up to 120kmh were forecast for Wellington and coastal Wairarapa on Thursday but winds should slowly ease later.

FERRY SAILINGS CANCELLED

REBECCA DEW A trampoline flew over a fence in Shirley, Christchurch. It was among several blown about in Wednesday's gales.

Wellington harbour master Mike Pryce confirmed Cook Strait ferries were cancelled by a swell of up to 10 metres.

All sailings of Wellington's East by West Ferry were replaced by shuttles on Thursday morning.

Eagle-eyed Wellingtonians spotted the Interislander Kaitaki but it was not setting out to cross Cook Strait.



Harbourmaster Mike Pryce said it was too "lumpy" for sailings and the Kaitaki was circling the harbour waiting for a plateau, as conditions will make docking the ferry a bumpy ride.



The wave rider buoy at Baring Head that measures the Strait's wave heights for the Harbourmaster and Ships clocked a maximum 10 metre swell at 10pm Wednesday – the average was around 6m.



The swells are dying down slightly, but Pryce advises it is unlikely conditions will permit Strait sailings today. And not so much because it's too dangerous: "The ships aren't going to sink but it would be very uncomfortable for passengers - they'll be sick."

HAMISH MCNEILLY/Stuff.co.nz Botched salvage attempt of catamaran capsized off Dunedin's Macandrew Bay

HURRICANE FORCE GALES

The strongest gales on Wednesday night were recorded on Banks Peninsula and the Port Hills, reaching hurricane-strength gusts of 160kmh at times. Wind chills reached -7C in those areas, and the temperature dropped as low at -10C in Canterbury's high country.

The Christchurch Gondola was closed on Thursday due to "inclement weather", a message on their answering machine said.

JOSEPH JOHNSON/FAIRFAXNZ Strong winds blew knocked over a tree from Eliza's Manor onto Bealey Ave, blocking the two westbound lanes.

SNOW FALLS...WHERE IT USUALLY DOES

Queenstown and Arrowtown residents woke to widespread snow on Thursday morning, with roads around Arrowtown, Dalefield, Lower Shotover and Arrow Junction affected.

Queenstown Lakes District Council roading contractor Downer used snowploughs and grit trucks to clear roads while chains were needed on the top of the Crown Range, between Queenstown and Wanaka.

Skifields are celebrating a massive dump of spring snow in the last two days – 45cm at Coronet Peak and over 50cm at The Remarkables.

Police said due to extensive snowfall, large numbers of people were heading towards the ski fields.

The Remarkables was closed as staff were unable to get to the top of the road and needed to undertake avalanche control.

Nearby Cardrona was open with about 15cm of new snow, but many lifts were on hold as unsettled weather continues.

Most of Canterbury's ski fields were closed on Thursday, including Mt Hutt, Porters, Cheeseman, Craigieburn and Broken River.