Powerful 130km/h gales and snow blast New Zealand

A wintry blast has hit New Zealand, bringing gale force winds, heavy rain and snow to parts of the country.

Parts of Porirua have been hammered by large waves as a storm swept through Wellington, toppling trees and washing out highways.

Helen Clifton took to Twitter to share images of some of the damage caused by the strong waves.

Chris Johnson also shared and image of State Highway One, south of Paekakariki, covered in thick sea foam and rocks.

Gales are being recorded as far north as Auckland and hurricane-force winds are slamming parts of the lower North Island, weatherwatch.co.nz says.

Gusts of more than 130km/h have hit exposed parts of coastal Wairarapa, while Wellington had gales up to 100km/h on Sunday afternoon.

RELATED: Fallen trees, flooding across North Island

Gusts of 115km/h swept across Masterton today, and Auckland City experienced gusts between 70 and 90km/h.

Traffic officials warned people to drive carefully as they returned to cities on the last weekend of the school holidays.

The Fire Service responded to about 20 callouts over downed powerlines and trees due to winds across the upper North Island, although no major damage was reported, a spokeswoman said.

The lower North Island was a similar story, with call-outs about minor weather-related damage coming in on Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, in the South Island, WeatherWatch head analyst Philip Duncan said heavy snowfall of 100 metres was falling in Southland, while 200 metres was falling in Dunedin.

Snow covers the streets of Gore after receiving a freshing dumping of powder just after 12pm. Photo: Emma Hanley/Facebook

"Polar air is today mixing with the big westerly flow and is slowly heading northwards, although may not really impact northern New Zealand very much - and is why we're seeing parts of Southland and Otago shivering under truly wintry weather while many other regions again feel like it's spring thanks to the gales," said Duncan.

Many ski field were closed, or partially closed, today due to high winds but they say it's snowing and skiing will be good when the winds drop.

"Good news is the new snow is awesome!" Treble Cone Ski Area near Wanaka in Central Otago posted on its Facebook page on Sunday.