High winds cut power to more than 10,000 homes in the South today, and more than 3600 may remain without power overnight.

Aurora Energy said in a statement tonight power was out to 4078 customers in the areas of Burnside, Caversham, Concord, Abbotsford, Green Island, Sunnyvale, Fairfield, Waldronville and Ocean View, and to 648 customers in North East Valley.

Crews are working on the problem now.

Power is expected to be out overnight for 1188 customers in Port Chalmers; 806 in Outram; 648 in North East Valley; and 343 in Berwick.

Power has been restored to most of the 538 customers in Anderson's Bay and the 50 affected customers in Dalefield and Roxburgh.

"We understand the inconvenience that the service interruptions and we will be working hard to restore power to remaining customers as soon as possible," the statement said.

About 2900 customers on the PowerNet network were without power at some point due to the winds, chief executive Jason Franklin said.

Most had their power restored by 9.30pm, but almost 700 customers in Lawrence, Waihola and Clarks Junction might remain without power overnight.

Downed power lines should be reported to Delta on 0800 433 582, and any loss of power should be reported to the electricity retailer.

WeatherWatch said gusts of 124kmh had been recorded at Dunedin Airport, and gusts of 140kmh were affecting exposed coastal parts of Otago.

MetService duty forecaster Neal Osborne said the winds would peak about 9pm or 10pm and then ease.

Wind getting wilder and wilder here in Portobello Otago @metservice how much more of this! pic.twitter.com/vooADGAAoJ — Ian Griffin (@iangriffin) March 10, 2016

A Delta spokesman said earlier this evening multiple power lines were down in Dunedin, but the company had yet to get a full picture of how widespread the problems were.

Emergency services have attended several jobs in Southland and coastal Otago where trees have been felled by the high winds, sometimes blocking roads.

Police said at 8.45pm the winds were moving up the country, and weather-related calls were now coming from the Oamaru area.

Tree debris was lying on State Highway 1 between Hampden and Oamaru.

Flights out of Dunedin Airport this evening have been cancelled, along with the flight from Christchurch due to arrive at 8pm and one from Auckland that was due at 8.30pm.

At Queenstown Airport, an inbound Jetstar flight from Auckland at 8.55am was cancelled, as were two inbound Air New Zealand services - one from Christchurch at 9.45am and the other from Auckland at 12.05pm.

The corresponding outgoing Air New Zealand flights were also cancelled, as was the 9.40am Jetstar service to Sydney.

A Queenstown Lakes District Council spokesman said wind also caused a tree to fall at Arthurs Point, partially blocking the road, about 2pm which was cleared by contractor Downers.

The New Zealand Transport Agency said State Highways 8 (Tekapo to Twizel) and 80 (to Mount Cook) were being buffeted by extremely strong winds of more than 100kmh this afternoon, with a crash earlier today at Lake Pukaki.

"Roads are open but drivers are urged to take care or reschedule if they are driving high-sided vehicles like camper vans," NZTA journey manager Lee Wright said.

People on motorbikes were also advised to take care.

Roads particularly affected by high winds include:

- State Highway 1, through Canterbury and Otago along the coast, especially from Palmerston to the Waitaki Bridge, and between Dunedin and Balclutha,



- State Highway 80 to Aoraki/Mount Cook,



- State Highway 73 between Canterbury and the West Coast,



- State Highway 87 Middlemarch to Dunedin,



- State Highway 83 Omarama to Pukeuri



- State Highway 8 through the Lindis Pass from the Mackenzie Basin to Twizel.

Earlier, MetService communications meteorologist Lisa Murray said high winds could damage unsecured structures.

"Winds of this strength have the potential to bring down trees and powerlines, damage unsecured structures and make driving hazardous, particularly for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles."

Severe gales were also expected in Queenstown, the Fiordland Lakes, Canterbury, Marlborough Sounds, Wellington and Wairarapa today.

Fire warning

The Otago Rural Fire Authority has declared a spike day for fire.

"We are expecting a short but significant weather event from early hours [today] to Thursday afternoon with gale to severe-gale north west winds predicted.

"This will be followed by a cool south west change which is expected to bring relief to the fire danger,'' its Facebook page said.

"All fire permits have been temporarily revoked until these winds have passed.''

Heavy rain in Fiordland

More heavy rain was forecast for Fiordland north of Doubtful Sound of between 30mm to 50mm. Although not a large amount of rain for the region, people (especially trampers) should be aware that streams and rivers could rise rapidly, the MetService said.

State Highway 94 Te Anau to Milford was closed from 8pm yesterday in case of a slip to happen again in the Lower Hollyford Valley due to heavy rain. However, NZTA advised it had reopened about 12.45pm today.

- rhys.chamberlain@odt.co.nz