Reports of a small tornado causing damage came in last night on the West Coast.
A roof of a house was blown off at Three Mile and powerlines had also been downed.

Parts of Greymouth lost power for up to an hour last night and it’s believed all power to the area was restored by 8pm.There were also unconfirmed reports of damage in and around Ross as winds lashed the area.

Further north and gales in Wellington region blew over a lamp post on State Highway 1 near Johnsonville last night.

It blocked a northbound lane at the top of Ngauranga Gorge.A car had hit the fallen pole, but the crash was minor.The blocked lane had caused minor delays to traffic.

Winds are forecast to switch from the north to nor’ west about the Capital to a blustery, cold southerly bringing with it a period of showers.

Across the Mainland and west to southwest gales are lashing parts of the deep south. Invercargill had a windy night as peak gusts topped 90kph and Dunedin Airport, Gore and Queenstown continuie to be buffted early this morning as gusts top 80kph.

Temperatures are as low as 3 or 4 degrees and the windchill factor makes it feel much colder.