Snow warning; spring on hold for South

DUNEDIN motorists have been warned roads will be treacherous today, following a spate of incidents caused by blustery weather which tied up emergency services in the South yesterday.

A MetService spokesman said a cold wintry blast was spreading up the South Island and the next few days would feel like a return to winter, even though it was technically spring.

‘‘I’m hoping people haven’t put their winter woollies away yet,’’ the spokesman said.

A road snowfall warning for the Northern Motorway (State Highway 1) between Dunedin and Waitati would be in place until 6pm, with snow showers forecast for summits overnight and lowering to about 100m today, with 1cm to 2cm of snow accumulating in places.

Today’s expected high was about 6degC, when usually at this time of year it would be about 13degC, the spokesman said.

Hill suburbs around Dunedin would likely be affected by sleety showers and falling snow.

Tomorrow, Dunedin could expect a high of about 8degC while temperatures across most of the South Island remained in single digits.

Mosgiel could be in for a frosty morning, he said.

A high of 12degC was forecast for Wednesday and the rest of the week would likely stay in double digits, he said.

The potentially hazardous road conditions today follow on from a day of high winds which battered the South yesterday.

Police issued a warning to motorists between Waihola and Balclutha in South Otago, urging them to take care due to high winds in the area yesterday afternoon and to delay journeys in some cases.

Invercargill Station Senior Station Officer Trent Frew said firefighters had been to ‘‘call after call’’, including to assist with downed powerlines, loose roofing iron, fallen trees and traffic control, until the wind died down yesterday evening.

There had been no serious incidents or injuries, but there had been so many calls for downed powerlines that PowerNet was left with a backlog to attend to, SSO Frew said.

Ziff’s Cafe & Bar owner Allen Arnold said his premises had to be closed due to a power pole brought down by the wind.

The cafe had been fully booked for lunch and dinner because it was Father’s Day.

While the outage on such a big day was unfortunate, ‘‘it is what it is’’, Mr Arnold said.

❛ I’m hoping people haven’t put their winter woollies away yet