Volunteer Service Abroad said it could still not account for four Kiwi volunteers in Vanuatu.

New Zealanders in Vanuatu have been drafted in to help at the capital's main hospital after it was ravaged by Cyclone Pam.

Kiwi Kylie Steel was in Port Vila when the cyclone struck. After the cyclone passed she went in search of friends. Here's her story.

Dozens are feared dead on Vanuatu and up to 10,000 are homeless in the wake of Cyclone Pam.

Tropical Cyclone Pam is slowly weakening as it approaches NZ, but will still be "a very powerful tropical cyclone" as it passes the country within a few hundred kilometres.

Tropical Cyclone Pam had been downgraded to a category 4 cyclone. A severe weather warning has been issued for northern and eastern parts of the North Island, where heavy rain and south to southeast gales were expected from this evening through to Tuesday.

Organisers of the NZ surf lifesaving championships in Gisborne blasted through the penultimate day's programme yesterday in a bid to keep ahead of the storm expected to slam into the area.

Tropical cyclone Pam has been upgraded to category 3 and weather experts fear it could reach supercyclone levels as it slowly moves towards Vanuatu.

A low currently sitting in the Pacific, which is likely to be upgraded to a tropical cyclone, will have some impact on Northland later this week, weather boffins have predicted.

Thunderstorms are making their way down the country bringing heavy rain, particularly to the capital where several houses have been flooded.

Kiwis in New York and up the east coast of the United States were last night hunkering down as one of the biggest storms in history bore down on the region.

Several centimetres of snow had fallen in New York City last night, as the region shutdown and settled in for a wild 24 hours.

Severe thunderstorms may hit Dunedin, North Otago and Clutha this afternoon bringing heavy rain and hail as large as 20mm to some areas, MetService warns.

A powerful typhoon destroyed homes and flooded low-lying coastal villages in the Philippines, forcing a million people to flee to safety and reportedly leaving at least three dead.

Auckland is in for a wet and windy start to the week, with heavy rain, gales and possible thunderstorms forecast for today.

Blustery winds of up to 160km/h are ripping through parts of the country today, with a series of weather warnings and watches in place, MetService says.

Ferries were cancelled, roads were closed and thousands were without power in Auckland as a wintry blast blew through yesterday.

A tropical storm was moving out into the Sea of Japan last night after lashing the country with rain and winds, leaving one person dead and more than 50 injured.

A tornado has ripped through Greymouth this afternoon, tearing off a roof and damaging up to 10 properties.

Conservation Minister Nick Smith is considering legal action after he was accused of trying to stop advocacy group Fish and Game from lobbying for cleaner rivers.