More snow storms on the way

Tim Simpson and Tom Hazlett take part in the Queenstown Winter Festival's Birdman contest yesterday.

New Zealand has not seen the last of the severe weather. Fresh storms are forecast to bring more snow to both islands this week.

The MetService is expecting more falls down to 700m in the east coast region of the North Island today, and snow is forecast later in the week for the South Island, where about 350 households are still without power.

Central North Island highways closed last week, stranding motorists and cutting crucial freight links, had all reopened yesterday, except for State Highway 38 at Tuai, near Wairoa.

Caution was being urged by Transit New Zealand on other highways where slips had occurred.

The east coast is still recovering from snow, rain and lightning strikes which left residents without power and phone lines since late last week.

One hundred connections to homes, pumps and woolsheds around Wairoa were knocked out by high winds and snow. It was expected to take three to four days to restore power.

Continuing bad weather has been hindering repairs in remote areas.

"It has been difficult to get access into a lot of these places. It is rugged terrain," said Eastland Network spokesman Ben Gibson.

About 500 customers around the Central North Island were still without phones yesterday, Telecom said. A lightning strike at a mast in Te Araroa caused many of the outages.

A cold front is forecast by the MetService to move up the South Island on Thursday, bringing snow to low levels in Southland, Otago and Canterbury.

It may be late this week before all homes in Canterbury have power restored. Electricity Ashburton general manager Gordon Guthrie said reconnecting power to about 150 homes in Mid-Canterbury would be the most difficult.

"We are getting access problems with farmland and sodden ground."

It meant perfect conditions for skiers on the opening day of the season at the Remarkables near Queenstown, where by yesterday more than $30,000 had been raised for charity at the Winter Festival.

The money is for Cure Kids and the Wakatipu High School.