-9C in Christchurch | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

Police are advising people to stay at home in Christchurch as a blanket of snow covers the South Island and parts of the North Island in what is believed to be the coldest weather event in 16 years.

Snow is forecast to continue to fall for Canterbury from Christchurch and Banks Peninsula northwards, and also the Kaikoura Coast, as another "surge of snow" can be expected through this morning until about mid afternoon.

MetService said another 10-20cm above 400 metres and 5-10cm down to sea level is expected from 9am to 3pm.

Forecaster WeatherWatch said temperatures in Christchurch this morning have plummeted to -9 Celsius.

Some suburbs have seen 30cm of snow, leading to police to only undertake travel if it is absolutely necessary. People are being advised to contact their employer to see if it is necessary to go to work.

AIRPORT CLOSED

Christchurch Airport is closed this morning and flights in and out of Christchurch remain cancelled until further notice.

Airport incident controller Geoff Eban said 500 people are at the the terminal waiting, and flights will hopefully resume mid afternoon.

"We have two graders and a snow plow working continuously on the runways, but as fast as they clear the snow, it builds up again," Mr Eban said.

Travellers are asked to check with their airline before coming to the airport.

Christchurch Hospital has cancelled all elective surgery and outpatient clinics today, Newstalk ZB reports.

The heavy dumping of snow over night has prevented hospital staff getting to work, however Burwood Hospital is operating as normal, with both elective surgery and outpatient clinics continuing today.

Canterbury and Lincoln university and Christchurch Poytechnic Institute of Technology are closed for the day.

Christchurch road updates can be found here.

Four bridges in Christchurch have been closed as a result of the adverse weather and road conditions.

The Colombo Street, Moorhouse Avenue, Waltham Road, and Durham Street overbridges are closed until further notice.

BANKS CLOSED

Westpac bank has closed all Christchurch branches, however all Dunedin branches are open except Dunedin North, Gardens, Green Island, and Mosgiel, and all Southland branches are open except Ranfurly, Balclutha, Waikiwi, and Te Anau. The Waiouru and Ohakune branches are closed, however Taihape remains open.

Heavy snow has closed ANZ and National Bank branches from as far north as Christchurch, including Rangiora and Kaiapoi, to Dunedin and Mosgiel and across to Queenstown and Alexandra.

ANZ New Zealand said it would continue to monitor the situation throughout the day and reopen branches where possible.

All ASB branches in Christchurch are also closed.

POWER RESTORED

Less than 100 Christchurch households remain without power after about 2000 had their power cut as a result of heavy snow, Orion says.

Orion general manager commercial Rob Jamieson says heavy snow has built up on lines and poles in areas, and caused some lines to break.

About 2,000 customers lost power in Sumner, Governors Bay, Yaldhurst, Belfast, Marshland and Spencerville overnight.

The Christchurch City Council has cancelled all TV2KidsFest events that were to be held today due to the weather.

Cantabrians again show their unique sense of humour, this time with the Facebook group, Christchurch has snow, it's the icing on the quake.