Winter cold snap 2026

The story so far

A weather front was forecast to bring heavy rain, strong winds and snow to parts of the South Island and Wellington, with MetService warning of a sharp temperature drop.^{30 Jul} From August 3, a wintry blast brought snow to low levels in the east, closing state highways and schools, causing crashes in Dunedin and cancelling Cook Strait ferry sailings. Temperatures then fell sharply, with Aoraki/Mount Cook and Twizel reaching -9C on August 4 and Mount Cook airport recording -10C on August 5.^{3, 4, 5, 6 Aug} By August 6, record lows had been set across the North Island, with Taumarunui reaching -7.2C and Rotorua setting an all-time low of -5.6C.^{7 Aug}

Latest

Parts of the North Island recorded record-breaking cold over two days, with Rotorua setting a new all-time low.^{7 Aug}

Key moments

1. 30 JulForecast front warns of snow, wind and rain for South Island and Wellington
2. 31 JulSoutherly blast brings snow and gale winds; Queenstown flights cancelled
3. 1 AugTwo Central Otago highways close due to snow; worst of cold passes
4. 4 AugSnow closes highways and schools; Dunedin crashes; Cook Strait ferries cancelled
5. 5 AugAoraki/Mount Cook and Twizel hit -9C; Christchurch's coldest night in five years
6. 6 AugMount Cook airport records -10C; Auckland's coldest since 2021
7. 7 AugTaumarunui and Rotorua set record lows across the North Island

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