A large southerly swell over the weekend has left roads damaged in Wellington and the South Wairarapa coast.
Rocks and debris scattered along the Moa Point road by huge waves on Wellington's south coast on Sunday. Photo: Supplied / Wellington City Council
Rocks and debris dumped on the road around Moa Point, on Wellington's south coast, were being cleared to allow the road to open.
The coastal road, which runs past the southern edge of Wellington Airport, remained closed on Monday morning to allow crews to remove the rubble.
Large swells and high tide hit parts of the Wellington coastline at the weekend.
MetService said southwesterly winds blowing across a long distance generated the heavy swell, making for dangerous conditions along coastlines exposed to those waves.
Monster waves along Wellington’s southern coast today. pic.twitter.com/TbVgqdv1mJ
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Wave swells of 4m-5m also damaged Cape Palliser Road in South Wairarapa in several places.
The district council said teams were working on Monday morning to repair the road.
The road at Cape Palliser on the South Wairarpa Coast road damaged by a southerly swell at the weekend. Photo: Facebook / South Wairarapa District Council
More large waves due mid-week - MetService
MetService said waves reached up to 7m over the weekend.
It is forecasting another period of large south to southwest swell waves to affect southern and eastern coasts of New Zealand on Wednesday and Thursday.
This is likely to result in further warnings being issued, including for Wellington's south coast.
The Chatham Islands could once again see waves approaching 10 metres on Wednesday and Thursday, along with a period of southwest gales.
"These swell waves are being generated by a large area of southwest gales that is blowing over the Southern Ocean between New Zealand and Antarctica," meteorologist Peter Little said.
"These large swell waves have the potential to cause coastal inundation and erosion of our shores, especially around high tide."
"Beach users and boaties are advised to exercise caution as these unusually high swell waves will be hazardous."
