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Parts of the country continued to be blasted by atrocious weather on Wednesday, with MetService predicting more snow and sleet for the southern South Island.
Many school children are having the day at home in the snow-struck south.
There has been more snow in Southland and Otago overnight, on top of a cold blast on Tuesday.
Many schools in the area are closed, particularly in rural districts. It has been snowing to sea level in Dunedin on Wednesday morning, and some schools in the hill suburbs have been affected.
Icy winds buffeted parts of Southland and Otago overnight with Invercargill recording two centimetres of snow at midnight, while MetService is forecasting more snowfalls for inland areas of Southland and the southern ski fields.
Heavy hail showers hit Invercargill on Tuesday, while snow closed some schools and made driving hazardous around the region.
Police are advising residents not to drive anywhere unless it is absolutely necessary and many roads are closed in the lower half of the South Island.
In Canterbury, roads to part of the Banks Peninsula have been cut off, while in the North Island, the Desert Road was closed on Wednesday morning.
Happy ending to search
Late on Tuesday there was a happy ending for a south Otago family when their three-year-old son was found in the snow by searchers.
The boy had been missing in frozen farmland for four hours and was eventually found 1.5km from his home.
"When he heard the parents calling, he popped out of the bush and spoke to them," says Senior Sergeant Alistair Dickie of the Balclutha police.
"It appears he was scared of the searchers and was trying to elude them."
Meanwhile, searchers have found a group of eight trampers missing in the Nelson Lakes National Park.
The group, the oldest of whom is 76, contacted police by mobile phone on Tuesday night to say they were lost somewhere between Mt Robert and the alpine Lake Angelus.
Two ground search parties were sent in but a rescue helicopter located the group at the top of the Speargrass Basin.
Search co-ordinator Russell Tucker says temperatures as low as -10 degrees C and strong winds would have made the group's stay outdoors very uncomfortable.
Tucker says three of the group are being treated for varying degrees of frostbite but the rest are in good spirits.
