Fierce winds cut power across Wairarapa

High winds cut power and affected more than 1000 Wairarapa homes from around 5.45pm on Friday, says a Powerco spokesman.

Strong winds caused multiple power cuts across Wairarapa during the weekend.

More than 1000 homes were affected from around 5.45pm on Friday, said Phil Marsh, Powerco Network Operations Manager. People lost power in Masterton, Martinborough, Tinui and Clareville.

Severe gales gusting up to 133km/h had been recorded at the top of Rimutaka Hill Road on Friday, prompting the NZ Transport Agency to issue a warning to take care navigating the road.

Mr Marsh said trees too close to power lines were responsible for most of the power cuts.

"If tree owners would play their part by having a Powerco approved contractor cut away any branches growing too close to lines it would make a huge difference to the people of Wairarapa," he said.

There was a further outage on Sunday when a car hit a power pole at Clareville. The driver, a young local woman, is in a serious but stable condition in Wellington Hospital.

A Tenix crewman at the scene said they would have to replace the power pole. Wellington bore the brunt of the severe weather, with flights delayed at Wellington Airport and houses damaged.