KEY POINTS:
The late summer has been blasted away by storms lashing the country - and forecasters warn there's more to come.
Gale-force winds, driving rain and hailstones battered the North Island yesterday, while snow fell in parts of the South Island.
Powerlines were downed, flash floods played havoc on the roads and winds of up to 120km/h sent roof tiles flying and flattened buildings.
In Hamilton, a woman was fighting for her life in hospital today after she was hit by a falling tree while walking near Waikato University yesterday evening.
Forecasters warned last night that more bad weather was to come. Storms are due over the weekend, though they are likely to be less intense.
"Summer's taken on a mood change," said MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt. "It might be the beginning of the end."
Just four days ago, the country was basking in temperatures up to 29C - in Gisborne on Sunday - but an icy blast from the south wrought the abrupt change.
On Tuesday night storms cut power to about 40,000 homes on the Kapiti Coast, Porirua and the Hutt Valley.
Strong winds and lashing rain buffeted parts of Auckland yesterday, leaving a number of North Shore and Rodney households without power for several hours.
Firefighters in the Auckland region attended dozens of weather-related incidents including a house in Avondale where additions were blown over by the high winds.
Levin was battered by a heavy hailstorm for about 45 minutes.
The MetService reported snow showers down to 300m in Fiordland and at about 1000m in the Queenstown area.
Snow settled in the Arthurs Pass valley on the main route from Christchurch to the West Coast. More snow was expected overnight in Otago and Southland.
In the Wellington area, firefighters were kept busy with flooding in Raumati and Petone which caused delays to traffic on State Highway 2.
Police were also feeling the pressure.
Inspector Ian Brooker of the police northern communications centre said officers were "very, very busy" with problems in the Waikato and Pukekohe areas.
Among the callouts was one for a cat which became stuck on the Auckland Harbour Bridge during rush hour and was eventually rescued from the moveable barrier halfway up the bridge.
A coastguard spokeswoman said wind squalls hit up to 68 knots on the Manukau Harbour and 55 knots on the Waitemata Harbour but the seas were "relatively calm" last night.
That is expected to change today with swells measuring up to 5m expected off the west coast of the North Island.
Mr McDavitt said the stormy conditions were part of a three-part weather system which had formed over the ocean halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica.
"Shuttlefuls of Antarctic air have been forced on to New Zealand - we had the warm front on Monday night and the cold front arrived last night, which caused the thunderstorm."
There are signs, however, that winter has not taken a complete stranglehold just yet - the MetService says a few more anticyclones will bring dry conditions during autumn.
Forecast
Today
* North Island: Thunderstorms, hail, westerly gales.
* South Island: Thunderstorms, snow, southwesterly gales.
Tomorrow
* North Island: Showers.
* South Island: Rain.
- Additional reporting NZPA
