South Island and Wellington severe weather September 2025

The story so far

On 2 September, MetService issued severe weather watches for Westland, Buller, and the Otago and Canterbury lake districts, warning of heavy rain and northwest gales during Thursday and Friday.^{3 Sep 2025} On 4 September, MetService issued heavy rain and strong wind warnings for parts of the South Island for Friday, including heavy rain for the headwaters south of Arthur's Pass and severe gales forecast for inland Canterbury.^{4 Sep 2025} The same day, high winds, heavy rain and thunderstorms hit the Wellington region, and a lightning strike hit a block of flats in Mt Victoria.^{5 Sep 2025} On Friday night, thunderstorms and strong winds caused dozens of Air New Zealand flight cancellations in Wellington, and parts of State Highway 2 were closed.^{6 Sep 2025}

Latest

Flights have begun to resume as conditions change, after the stranded passengers in Wellington.^{6 Sep 2025} The stories do not report new South Island warnings after 4 September.^{4, 5 Sep 2025}

What's next

Some of the severe weather watches may be upgraded to orange-level warnings.^{3 Sep 2025}

Key moments

1. 3 Sep 2025MetService issues severe weather watches for West Coast, Otago and Canterbury lake districts.
2. 4 Sep 2025Heavy rain and wind warnings issued for parts of South Island on Friday.
3. 5 Sep 2025Lightning strikes a block of flats in Mt Victoria during Wellington storms.
4. 6 Sep 2025Dozens of Air New Zealand flights cancelled in Wellington; State Highway 2 partly closed.

Written from the stories below; each sentence links to its sources.