Winds batter South Island

Another wintry blast has hit the South Island with snow warnings and strong winds bringing down powerlines and damaging roofs.

In Otago, the strong winds died down about 2am today, but not before downing the powerlines causing about 1100 houses in Waipori to lose power for part of the evening, Dunedin police said.

More bad weather was on the way today as waves of cold fronts swept over the South Island, MetService forecaster Jasmine Kennedy said.

Southland and Otago would face rainy weather in the morning, with a severe cold snap striking Otago this afternoon, bringing snow down to 300 metres.

Fifteen centimetres of snow was forecast for the Milford road before midnight tonight.

Further North, the roads over the Lewis Pass, Arthurs Pass and Porters Pass would be affected by snow.

However, the bad weather was normal for spring and did not mean winter was returning, Ms Kennedy said.

South Canterbury firefighters were also called out to around four separate burn-offs which became of control because off high winds.

Fire staff had the biggest fire, over five hectares near St Andrews, Timaru, under control by midnight, South Canterbury rural chief fire officer Rob Hands said.

There were two fires in Waimate, one caused by downed powerlines, the other by a paddock burn-off that got out of control and spread into adjacent vegetation.

Firefighters were called to another fire in the Brothers Range, Cave, near Timaru.

"It is a little frustrating that farmers are not assessing the conditions before starting a burn-off. We will be speaking with the landowners about that," Mr Hands said.

- NZPA