Thousands left without power after wild weather in New Zealand

More than 3,000 outages were recorded on Saturday after the storms lashed central regions of the country ⁠of 5.3 million people, including the capital Wellington, the utility Powerco said.

"After a very wet and windy 24 hours, the weather is on its way out," national weather forecaster MetService posted on X.

Emergency authorities warned of debris on ‌roads, ⁠areas of surface flooding and a continued risk of landslides in Wellington.

The wild weather forced the cancellation on Friday of 200 ⁠flights in and out of Wellington. Officials in Lower Hutt, northeast of Wellington, reported flooded ⁠roads and two landslides.

In January, heavy rain triggered a landslide that killed six ⁠people at a busy campground on the country's North Island.