More than 50,000 people have been affected by the flash floods that have devastated the capital and a number of provinces of the Solomon Islands.

The condition of about 12,000 people crammed into Solomon Islands evacuation centres is of grave concern, says a Unicef sanitation specialist.

NZ is sending a Hercules with emergency relief to the Solomon Islands, after thousands of people in and around the capital Honiara were left homeless by flash flooding.

A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake has struck the Solomon Islands, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

A downpour in Auckland caused some surface flooding in the city centre, causing surface flooding and road closures after the storm.

Heavy rain has flooded houses in Auckland and Waikato and blocked a road tonight.

'We're obviously going to review the sandbagging issue,' says Christchurch's mayor amid residents' complaints the council failed to handle yesterday's floods.

Clarendon Terrace resident Nicholas Wilson shows us his flooded street and Hamish Wright from Construction Contracting Limited discusses protecting homes in the community from further flooding.

Flood waters take over Christchurch suburbs.

Mick Dummer got a nasty shock when he arrived at work.

Travellers are being urged to avoid the east coast of the Coromandel as heavy rain has brought flooding to many coastal communities, police say.

A winter storm is causing serious flooding in southern England. Thousands of people are without power on Christmas Day. Some roads are also closed due to flooding. Two dozen motorists were rescued from their vehicles overnight.

A brief deluge yesterday had central Dunedin on standby again as the mop-up continues from a storm on Monday that overwhelmed the city's stormwater system.

The cost of extreme weather events in New Zealand this year is likely to top $100 million, the Insurance Council says.

Flooding has forced two more blocks of Wanganui residents from their homes, as the city deals with a state of emergency from a swollen Whanganui River.

A whitebaiter feared he was about to drown when a flash flood swamped his caravan and vehicle in the Taramakau River bed early this morning.

Days of rain and floods have transformed the outdoorsy mountain communities in Colorado's Rocky Mountain foothills affectionately known as the "Gore-Tex Vortex" from a paradise into a disaster area.

Rescuers rushed by land and by air to evacuate Colorado residents stranded by epic mountain flooding as debris-filled rivers became muddy seas.

As people came down from the flooded foothills of the Colorado Rockies, they brought tales of dramatic rescues and heartbreaking loss.

Following on from the flooding in Europe, India and Canada are now both suffering from the loss of life and property.

Civil Defence and emergency services have urged New Zealanders to prepare for the worst as a ferocious polar blast bears down on the country.