Storm not letting up in North Island 

The central North Island is completely cut off on Thursday evening with all major roads in and out of the region closed, and the bad weather set to continue.

State Highway One is closed from Taihape through to Rangipo, which includes the Desert Road.

State Highway 49 between Waiouru and Ohakune is also closed as well as the road between National Park and Turangi. 

State Highway Four between Wanganui and Taumaranui is shut, along with the Napier-Taupo road.

Heavy snow has also closed road access to Egmont National Park in Taranaki. 

Roads to the East Egmont and North Egmont Visitors' Centres are closed at the park boundary.

Stratford District Council's engineering officer Kevin Whelan says graders have been working on the roads but cannot keep up with the snowfall.

He says those roads are impassable and snow has reached as low as Kaponga, which is only 300 metres above sea level.

Driving conditions worst in years

Police are describing driving conditions in the lower and central North Island as the worst they have seen in recent years. 

Surface flooding, slips, high winds and snow have been wreaking havoc on roads in the Wellington region. 

The Ministry of Civil Defence has activated its National Crisis management centre in Wellington to monitor potential problems with heavy rainfall forecast  for Thursday night for the North Island's east coast.

Up to 150 millimetres of rain is expected in the Gisborne and Hawke's Bay regions from 6pm.

The ministry says these areas have already had heavy rain, and there is the potential for serious flooding.

There has also been a landslip in Hawke's Bay. 

Inspector Tom Island says if motorists do not have to travel, they should not until the weather blows over.

MetService forecaster Ramon Oosterkamp says the southerly storm will continue to batter much of the North Island over the next day or two.

He says the weather should begin to clear at the weekend, but will remain cold and icy in many areas.

Bus crashes near Ohakune          

Police say 32 people have been rescued from a bus which crashed off the road near Horopito in the central North Island.

The bus slid off State Highway Four about 2.30pm on Thursday ending up on a 45 degree lean.

Police say they spoke to the bus driver by phone throughout the incident, providing information and reassurance to the passengers.

Inspector Tom Ireland says the passengers were rescued from the bus shaken but not injured.

North Island schools forced to close

Some central North Island schools have been forced to close because of wintry weather hitting the country. 

Many roads are shut because of snowfalls, making school bus runs impossible. 

The principal of Taihape Area School, Boyce Davey, says they closed for the day because of the large numbers of students and teachers who were stranded. He says many of the buses that pick up students could not reach the school, so town-based students were sent home. 

Davey says the only bright spot is that the storm will ensure good snow on the mountains when the school's skiing programme begins next term. 

Raetihi and Ohakune Primary schools have also closed and while Ruapehu College is open, students who travel by bus were sent home early.