It's been exactly one month since Canterbury was rocked by the devastating 7.1 earthquake so I decided to return to the region to check out the damage.

Last week's storms were forgotten as people flocked to Mt Maunganui beach on a sunny spring Sunday.

Weather for the school holidays has been fairly good across the country, despite the current rain warnings in the west.

Sunday saw one of the best starts to daylight saving that I've seen in years. Not only did both the North and South Island take the national high with 24 degrees in Napier and Kaikoura, but several other centres also climbed into the 20s in

The storm was characterised by powercuts throughout the country, strong winds and even flying trampolines.

A large pod of pilot whales stranded on a Far North beach will hopefully be refloated tomorrow.

Surviving pilot whales from a stranded pod may have to be refloated at a more sheltered bay.

Gales and heavy rain pounding the North Island have shattered weather records, and winds last night hampered rescue efforts after a mass whale stranding at the northern tip of NZ.

Severe weather has hit much of NZ. Follow updates in your area.

Another cold front is set to bring more wet weather to a battered North Island with more snow forecast for Southland.

A wooden spring board floor will be shipped in from Singapore and Southland's velodrome will host the region's netball and basketball franchises, it was decided today.

12,000 people are still without power in the North Island as wild weather continues to plague the country.

It was the storm that the chief forecaster at MetService said wasn't going to be big, and was angry at the media for saying so and for using, what he called, emotive language...

Severe snow, wind and rain is expected to continue to batter parts of the country but Auckland looks set to escape the worst of it.