Extreme care is being urged this morning on State Highway 73 between Christchurch and the West Coast after snow that resulted in an earlier closure of the road.

SH73 between Springfield and Arthurs Pass Village, including Porters Pass, closed just before 4am this morning and reopened about 5.20am.

While “winter” driving conditions also persist in other parts of the South Island today, including State Highway 1 Dunedin to Waitati, there are no current state highway closures in the South, and MetService has now lifted road snowfall warnings that it had in place.