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Wild weather in Queenstown caused tornadoes on Lake Wakatipu - Source: Angie Mills
The Chamois Bar and Grill in Mt Cook village - Source: Evan Pearce
Strong winds overnight have ripped the roof off a bar in Mt Cook village.
Southland, Queenstown and parts of Canterbury have been left battered after strong winds passed through the region overnight, tearing down powerlines, ripping roofing iron off and spreading vegetation fires.
A number of twisters roared through Queenstown, while winds of almost 200 kmh buffeted Mt Cook village.
Chief executive of Mt Cook Ski Planes Limit Evan Pearce said he was awoken by the sound of smashing glass.
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"My neigbour two doors down was worse off than me," he said.
"He was caught out whilst sitting on the red couch having a well earnt beer half of the roof of the near by Chamois bar which traveled about 500m came into met him."
Southern Rural Fire Authority deputy principal fire officer Elton Smith said emergency services throughout the south were kept busy for much of the night.
At one point, firefighters were battling a blaze that threatened a Mossburn home after a fire in a tree spread and started spot fires around the property.
But the largest fire was on the Dipton-Castlerock Rd near the Oreti River, Smith said. The fire eventually torched a 1km-long stretch of a fir plantation and covered an area of between 10 and 15 hectares.
Emergency services were at the scene for more than five hours.
Southern Rural Fire Authority duty officer Sue Peterson said emergency services had received at least half a dozen callouts to burning vegetation in northern Southland.
Fallen lines also left some homes in Southland without power. PowerNet Ltd general operations manager Gary Pritchard said the company was still working to get a handle on how many homes had been affected by electricity cuts last night.
Queenstown hit hard
Queenstown appeared to be hit hardest by the rough weather, with the MetService reporting gusts of up to 130kmh in the town.
Queenstown chief fire officer Bob Robertson said the station had been frantic as it dealt with a number of weather-related calls.
"We've had a lot of calls. It's been everything. It's been roofing iron coming off, power lines down, it's trees down, and we did have a fire earlier on at Arthurs Point as well," he said.
Station officer Duncan Fisher said several power lines had fallen, but all had been isolated quickly.
Severe gale force wind gusts and mini-twisters also stranded residents, toppled trees and ripped a jet ski and trailer from a car park.
Residents said three twisters ripped through the split-level units without warning, tearing up perspex surrounds, smashing windows and uprooting plants.
Parts of the town were also blocked by fallen trees, leaving residents stranded overnight.
MetService meteorologist Larissa Marintchemko said the Southwest Cape of Stewart Island was buffetted by 180kmh gales.
"There are quite often gales in that area [on Stewart Island] but this is really strong, those are really severe gusts," she said.
A severe weather warning had been put in place for much of Southland, Otago and Canterbury, and parts of Marlborough and Wellington as a cold front swept gale-force northwesterly-winds across the country.
However, it was expected to leave Southland by later this morning, she said.
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