Christchurch hits record June high of 25C as gales buffet South Island

Saturday, 20 June 2026

A walker strolls along New Brighton beach on Saturday as winter temperatures nudge 25 degrees.

Christchurch has hit a record June high of nearly 25C as northwesterly winds buffet the South Island and lower North Island, with MetService warning of heavy rain and strong winds this afternoon and overnight.

Gusts of more than 120km/h have been recorded in Canterbury today, MetService said.

Christchurch soared to a summery 24.7C, while temperatures in Ashburton reached 23.8C, beating the mid Canterbury town’s previous record of 21.7°C recorded in 2024. Severe northwesterly gales reached 124 km/h in Springfield at 11am and 126 km/h in Methven at noon.

MetService updated its forecast this morning to pull back the times for when it expects the wind and rain to abate, with the South Island all clear by 1am Sunday and the lower North Island by 5am Sunday.

Flooding forced the closure of State Highway 6 between Haast and Makarora earlier. This has since reopened, with NZTA advising drivers to be wary of remaining surface water.

The highway was also closed between Rapahoe and Nine Mile in the Grey District due to a slip. This has since reopened, with NZTA advising drivers to expect delays as the road remained under stop/go control.

All warnings are expected to lift by the early hours of Sunday, with the MetService forecasting only scattered rainfall for the winter solstice.

A front preceded by a strong northwest flow is the culprit. MetService expects it to move over southern and central New Zealand today and into Sunday.

Orange strong wind warning for:

– Canterbury High Country from 9am until 5pm Saturday

– Canterbury Plains about and north of Rakaia, including Christchurch and Banks Peninsula from 1pm until 5pm Saturday

– Marlborough south of the Clarence from 11am until 10pm Saturday

– Marlborough north of the Clarence from 1pm until midnight Saturday

– Wellington and Wairarapa, south of Carterton, from 3pm Saturday until 3am Sunday

Orange heavy rain warning for:

– Coastal ranges of the districts of Buller and Grey from 11am Saturday until 1am Sunday

– The ranges of Westland from 9am until 7pm Saturday

– Headwaters of the Canterbury lakes and rivers south of the Hurunui River from 9am until 7pm Saturday

– Headwaters of the Otago lakes and rivers from 9am until 2pm Saturday

– The Tararua Range from 9pm Saturday until 7am Sunday

Heavy rain watches for:

– Inland ranges of the Buller District and the Nelson Lakes from 11am Saturday until 1am Sunday

Strong wind watches for:

– Wairarapa north of Carterton from 4pm Saturday until 5am Sunday.

This story was first published on rnz.co.nz