Heavy rain and gale-force winds have lashed the country’s capital, leaving 2,500 homes without power and forcing officials to close the airport.
The storm which passed through this morning may be followed by others this weekend.
Wellington's airport was closed this morning as gusts of up to 120kph saw the cancellations of 24 flights.
It meant long wait for many passengers but by around midday arrivals and departures finally resumed.
Overnight conditions even proved too much for the turbines built to profit from the bad weather, with westwind in Makara designed to automatically shut down when winds rise above 90kph.
“I think a bout eight of the 22 over the period of the evening shut themselves down over the course of the evening, but then got back up and running,” says Claire Shaw of Meridian.
Surface flooding threatened houses in Kilbirnie, while clean up crews working quickly to resolve the back-log of blockages, loose roofing threatened to become airborne.
Two hours later there was sunshine, and plenty of it.
It is unlikely to last though, the MetService has warned of severe weather patterns for much of the country this weekend.
“This particular one is gone for good but more importantly there's one very rapidly approaching from the west which is at least as vigorous as the one we have just had,” says Peter Kreft from the MetService.
That means more heavy rain and wind forecast for the weekend.
The MetService is cautioning South Islanders in particular to wrap up warm, and keep an eye on the weather warnings.
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