Auckland Harbour Bridge under orange warning as severe gales tipped to hit country tomorrow

Commuters using the Auckland Harbour Bridge tomorrow morning are being warned of possible delays and reduced speeds because of forecasted severe winds.

Gale-force winds are expected to reach 70 to 85km/h.

Waka Kotahi has issued an amber alert for the harbour bridge from 1am until 11am.

The bridge will remain in a 4×4 configuration during peak hours tomorrow morning. Further lane closures are possible, as well as reduced speeds.

High-sided vehicles and motorbikes are being advised to avoid the bridge and detour using the western ring route on State Highways 16 and 18.

MetService has issued a strong wind watch for Northland, south of Kawakawa, Auckland including Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula and Waikato north of Huntly as strong southwest winds spread.

The weather forecasting agency warns the winds will become “severe gales”, climbing to 120km/h in exposed places. The watch will begin at 1am and last until 11am tomorrow.

The watch will be in effect from 7am to 7pm tomorrow along the coast from Tokomaru Bay to Wairoa.

On Thursday, from 6am to 3pm, Dunedin and North Otago are under a strong wind watch, while Clutha and a portion of Southland, including Stewart Island, are under the same watch later in the day.

The first of several cold fronts expected this week moved in today, said MetService meteorologist April Clark. It brought strong, cold south-westerlies and thundery showers to the country.

It also caused a plunge in temperature, with snowfall possible in some areas.

There are road snowfall warnings for Desert Rd (SH1), Lewis Pass (SH7), Porters Pass (SH73), and Crown Range Rd. MetService expects at least 3cm of snow to fall on each of these roads overnight tonight.

The cold temperatures and strong winds will be accompanied by large, southwest swells to both western and eastern coasts.