Go-slow: Traffic at a crawl for the great summer holiday

Holidaymakers fleeing cities in search of sun-drenched beaches are instead getting caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic jams.

One holidaymaker was so keen to stretch his legs as he waited in traffic heading north on State Highway 1 north of Wellington, he jumped out of the car and went for a run before being picked up down the road.

And video has emerged today of a huge tailback heading north out of Auckland in one of the country's most notorious holiday congestion hotspots.

Tania Osbourne, of Warkworth, was heading to Orewa about 10.20am when she decided to film the massive queue of motorists keen to head north.

Her video lasted for nearly two minutes, showing lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Osbourne said she was surprised but had heard before leaving that the traffic would be especially bad today.

People trying to get out of Wellington faced a long wait as queues of traffic stretched for miles. Photo / Supplied

Meanwhile, a Wellington resident heading to Palmerston North was gutted to learn his trip from Peka Peka to the Manawatū was going to take nearly 2.5 hours.

"It's really bad today," he bemoaned.

Another resident posted that it was one of the region's worst days for traffic.

The traffic backed up south of the Puhoi tunnel at 10.20am stretched for several kilometres. Photo / Tania Osbourne

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi issued warnings earlier today about expected issues on the nation's roads.

The warnings come as four people have so far died on the country's roads during the holiday period in two separate crashes - already equalling last year's festive season road toll.

The fatal crashes occurred on Clevedon-Kawakawa Rd on Christmas Day and on Triangle Rd in Henderson on Boxing Day.