Visitors to the West Coast for the long holiday weekend, including for the popular Greymouth Motorcycle Street Race event, are being urged to prepare for disruptions to travel in and out of the region.

The recent battering of the region by severe weather events has affected the highway network and saturated the ground, meaning an increased vulnerability to the likes of flooding and slips.

And with more challenging weather forecast for Monday (Labour Day), further closures of state highways or other travel restrictions around the West Coast may be possible. This is in addition to ongoing challenges around supply of electricity and water.

“We are expecting lots of visitors to the Coast this long weekend, which is what we want to see, but the weather doesn’t always play ball,” says Moira Whinham, Maintenance Contract Manager on the West Coast for New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.

MetService is forecasting, with moderate confidence, heavy rain about the Buller and Grey Districts, northern Westland and central and northern parts of the Canterbury high country on Monday. Snow to relatively low levels over the east of the South Island is also expected, which could affect highways and alpine passes between the coasts. 

For Tuesday, there is low confidence of heavy snow down to 500 metres for northern parts of the Canterbury high country.

“For those who are travelling to the West Coast for the weekend, we would strongly encourage them to plan for the possibility of being unable to travel around the region or travel home as they had planned,” Ms Whinham says.

“This may mean carrying extra clothing and supplies, or having back-up plans for accommodation, or just having a more flexible travel schedule to leave earlier or later than planned.”

People can stay up to date with the latest weather advice from MetService, and the latest state highway conditions at our Journey Planner site.