Canterbury High Country is also under a wind warning until 3pm this afternoon.
“The severe northwest gale in these areas could gust up to 130km/h in exposed places, but it will be a short and sharp spell of wind,” said Bellam.
MetService warns strong wind gusts could damage trees, power lines and unsecured structures. Driving may also be hazardous, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles.
A heavy rain watch is also in place for Fiordland until 11am, with periods of heavy rain that may approach warning criteria.
In the North Island, a strong wind watch will come into effect for Wellington and the Wairarapa south of Masterton at 10am today. Northwest winds may approach severe gales in exposed places.
Meanwhile, a ridge of high pressure sits over the north of the North Island and will bring more dry, hot weather to start the new week.
Eastern parts of the North Island will bear the brunt of the heat in the coming days, with Hastings, Napier and Havelock North all forecast to reach 31C on Monday. Gisborne won’t be far behind, with a high of 29C expected.
“It’s going to be quite a hot couple of days for those regions,” said Bellam.
Temperatures for the rest of the North Island, excluding southern parts, are forecast to be “a little bit above average”, with the likes of Auckland reaching the mid to high 20s.
“Conditions are set to continue for much of the North Island, slightly above average maybe, but [we’re] not expecting any cool-off there,” he said.
Wind to pick up for Christchurch
Bellam said gusty, dry northwesterly winds are set to strengthen for Christchurch this afternoon as fire crews continue to battle a blaze in the Port Hills for a sixth day.
Half of the hotspots across the Port Hills fireground were “eliminated” yesterday and fire crews continued work at the scene overnight ahead of an “increased fire risk” today.
Drone flights across the Port Hills identified 58 hotspots by thermal imaging that ground crews targeted in yesterday’s firefighting operations.
Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) incident controller Steve Kennedy said the day shift had put in a big effort to cool 28 of the pinpointed hotspots.
Police were actively investigating yesterday after a private drone flying near the Port Hills fire grounded fire crews’ helicopters for up to an hour.
At its height, more than 100 firefighters, 28 fire engines, 14 helicopters and two planes were battling the fire on Thursday. The fire spread over an area of about 700ha.
The cause of the fire has has yet to be identified, though all evacuees have been allowed to return home.
“Luckily with that front coming, we’ve got a cooler southerly change for Christchurch in the evening and then some showers later on for the city,” said Bellam.
Conditions ahead of the southerly should see high 20C-plus temperatures for the east of the South Island, then temperatures are likely to plunge from the afternoon.
“On Tuesday, Christchurch and Ashburton will only see a high of 18C and Invercargill only 14C, so about 4C below average and a bit of a cool change for them,” he said.
Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.
