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Severe weather has caused chaos across New Zealand, with high winds and flooding battering parts of the country.

Orange wind warnings were put in place for the Canterbury High Country, with gusts of up to 130km/h in some places.

Reports out of Canterbury said a truck had rolled near Staveley due to the strong winds.

NZTA has put a strong winds warning in place for State Highway 77 at Mount Hutt, with caution advised for lighter or high-sided vehicles and motorcycles.

The South Island is taking the brunt of the bad weather, with most of its west coast under an orange rain warning.

Queenstown has experienced road closures and Queenstown Lakes District Council has advised that the road at the Fernhill roundabout will be closed for several hours.

NZTA had closed State Highway 6 from Haast to Makarora in both directions because of flooding, but the road has since reopened.

Wellington and much of the surrounding area are under an orange wind warning, with winds reaching 120km/h.

Despite the high winds, schools in Wellington are planning to stay open and Wellington City Council hasn’t yet closed any road but has advised drivers to be careful if conditions worsen.

“We only close some coast roads when we’ve got a southerly storm raging,” a spokesperson for the council said, “this time the wind’s northerly, so we’re not expecting problems.”

MetService said the wet weather is expected to move up through the North Island and towards Auckland in the early hours of Thursday and for it to stick around for most of the day.

Road snowfall warnings have also been put in place for parts of the far south on Thursday morning.

Milford Sound Rd has a warning in place from 3am-9am and Crown Range Rd has one in place from 7am-9pm.