Roads closed by extensive flooding and slips in the lower North Island are reopening tonight, but transport authorities are warning motorists to take care.

Police are searching for the owner of a kayak which was seen floating down the Manawatu River through the Gorge.

Motorists have been urged to avoid travelling along rural highways in Manawatu and Whanganui unless it is essential, as heavy rain continues to cause havoc.

A Palmerston North woman is reluctant to label herself a hero despite saving two young children from a burning car in a supermarket carpark.

A mysterious oil spill has caused black blobs and oil to appear along a 10km stretch of coastline.

Several sheep were killed in a fire that destroyed a woolshed in Manawatu this morning.

Over 250 people were trapped on a plane at a military airbase for hours, after wild weather and thunderstorms forced a landing.

The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) said the gorge could be opened to one lane of traffic from tomorrow morning if conditions allow.

"Can't think of a better way to spend a Thursday," says Jono Lester as I'm folded into the passenger seat of his Ferrari 458 GT3.

The body of a man who died at a Manawatu house has been removed and a post-mortem examination will be done tomorrow, police say.

Five people are facing a raft of drug charges in relation to the importation of nearly $500,000 worth of methamphetamine.

A grieving mother has been left devastated after discovering items from her son's grave have been stolen from Kelvin Grove Cemetery in Palmerston North.

A young woman suffered numerous injuries when she was pinned by a vehicle that crashed in Manawatu yesterday.

Two elderly women who were killed when a car lost control and crashed into a ditch in Manawatu early this morning have been named by police.

Two people are dead and four are injured after their vehicle lost control and ended up in a ditch in Manawatu overnight.

A 15-year-old boy led police on a 50km chase through Manawatu in a stolen vehicle yesterday, police say.

An 18-year-old woman who was thrown 15 metres in a crash in Apiti on Friday died in hospital.

A gold ingot, seven Harley Davidsons, nine muscle cars and a stack of cash were among the assets seized by police in a coordinated raid.

A home invasion at a rural Manawatu property turned violent when a woman couldn't comply with her attackers' demands this morning.

One child remains in hospital after two young children were pulled from a burning car in a Palmerston North supermarket carpark today.

A 20-year-old man who died in a fiery road accident had managed to turn his life around and become a caring young father, a youth worker says.

A 51-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man, both from Levin, were killed in a fiery three-vehicle crash, police have confirmed.