• Severe weather has arrived for most of the country
• There are warnings in place for wind, rain and snow around both islands
• Cook Strait ferry crossings are set to be rough thanks to large swells
• Two South Island passes have been closed due to snow
• A slip has closed State Highway 25 north of Whitianga
• Auckland commuters should delay morning travel as high winds threaten the Harbour Bridge

Most of the country is waking up to a stormy morning with heavy rain, high winds and snow forecast for almost all regions.

According to more than 45 weather warnings issued by MetService, parts of Canterbury should expect heavy rain – 70mm to 90mm – from 7am until the early hours of Wednesday, and snow above 500m.

MetService is also forecasting heavy rain for Coromandel Peninsula, Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, North Taranaki, Waikato, Taupō and Taihape, Bay of Plenty including Rotorua, the Tararua Range, the Tasman region and the entire East Coast of the country from Tologa Bay to Clutha.

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The bad weather began on Monday, with heavy rain and wind moving south down the country.

Two South Island passes were closed on Tuesday morning due to snow.

State Highway 73 between Springfield and Castle Hill was closed, with an update due at 10am, while Haast Pass on State Highway 6 was closed until 9am.

On the Coromandel Peninsula, State Highway 25 was closed north of Whitianga due to a “large slip”.

Waka Kotahi said travellers should delay their journey or use another route.

Cook Strait ferry company Interislander said people booked to sail on Tuesday should be aware the forecast was for strong southerlies and swells higher than four metres.

“We are not expecting cancellations, but there are possible delays,” it wrote on its Facebook page.

“If the swell is strong around Tory Channel we may divert through the northern entrance which takes an extra hour longer.”

Snow is forecast for the Canterbury High Country, North Otago, Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes.

Strong winds are expected along the West Coast of the South Island, Banks Peninsula, Tasman, the Marlborough Sounds, and the entire North Island except for Gisborne.

In Buller and Westland, this could reach gale strength on Tuesday morning, with gusts of 120 to 140kph in exposed places set to cause widespread damage to trees, power lines and roofs.

Meteorologist Lewis Ferris said the intensity would pick up through Tuesday, but the good news was the storm would move through pretty quickly. The bad news was that because the rainfall would be so intense, it might cause damage.

“In the last seven days we’ve already seen two weather systems move over the country, so soils are going to be sodden,” he said.

While the rain was likely to ease Wednesday, there was more rain forecast to hit from the north on Thursday and Friday, he said. “It’s not a perfect start to the school holidays.”

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency regional manager for maintenance and operations, Mark Owen, said to expect slips, rockfalls, fallen trees and other hazards in the lower North Island and upper South Island.

“You never know what might be around the next corner. It is vital drivers drive to the conditions, expect the unexpected, and be prepared for delays and disruptions,” he said.

Auckland commuters were asked to delay morning travel, with high winds expected until 9am on Tuesday.

Gusts had hit 74kph by 6am. The Auckland Harbour Bridge closes when gusts hit about 90kph.

Sheet rain was also lashing Auckland, with some commutes being slowed by surface flooding.

Auckland Transport real time and response manager Rachel Cara said even if there wasn’t a full closure of the Harbour Bridge, bus services could still be affected by precautions put in place.

“When wind reach the sorts of levels we’re expecting tomorrow morning we expect to see disruptions to our Northern Express services, along with buses travelling from Glenfield, Beach Haven and Takapuna,” she said.

A raft of Auckland ferries had been cancelled on Tuesday morning, including all Pine Harbour services, nine services between Queen’s Wharf and Gulf Harbour and two West Harbour sailings.

Metservice’s Dan Corrigan said the most rain had hit north Auckland, Ōrewa to Warkworth, as the weather was coming from the northeast.

The system had brought between 45mm to 70mm for the area since Monday afternoon.

“That rain has really picked up in the last two hours,” he said about 6.30am.

Corrigan said wind gusts had picked up at the same time as the rain and the pair would continue through to mid-morning.

“It is very very windy at the Harbour Bridge right now.”

Auckland’s windiest area was Whangaparāoa, which had gusts of 85kph, with one gust of 100kmh.

Auckland Airport was seeing gusts of 70kmh, he said, and that would continue through the morning.