10/04/2026
Cyclone Vainanu
As a significant cyclone event approaches, the National Road Trauma Centre is urging all communities to prioritise safety and follow official guidance.
Severe weather, including heavy rain, strong winds, flooding, and slips, is expected to impact travel conditions, particularly across the North Island. These conditions can change rapidly and create serious risks on our roads.
The most important message is simple — listen to official guidance, take early warnings seriously, and do not wait for conditions to deteriorate before making decisions.
We strongly encourage everyone to:
-Avoid non-essential travel
- Follow the advice of authorities, including New Zealand PoliceNew Zealand Police, NZ Civil Defence, and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi
- Stay up to date with official weather information from NIWA and MetService
- Check road and travel conditions before any journey
- Drive only if necessary, and adjust to the conditions
Emergency services and response teams are actively preparing and responding. The most effective way to support them is by making safe, informed decisions and not putting yourself or others at unnecessary risk.
He karere mō ngā whānau Māori
Jason Tippet, our Trustee, of Ngāi Tahu descent and a weather forecaster, shares:
As this cyclone approaches, we acknowledge our Māori communities across Aotearoa and the importance of staying safe and connected.
“E ngā iwi, e ngā hapū, e ngā whānau, kei te tū mai tētahi āhuatanga huarere kino. Me āta whakarongo ki ngā tohutohu a ngā mana whakahaere, ā, me noho haumaru.
From experience, we know that when heavy rainfall sets in and the ground becomes saturated, conditions can deteriorate quickly. Roads and access routes can become unsafe, and communities can become isolated within a short period of time.
It is important to follow official advice and instructions from Civil Defence, Waka Kotahi and other emergency authorities. These agencies are monitoring conditions closely and provide the most up-to-date guidance to keep people safe.
Kia noho haumaru, kia kaha tātou ki te tiaki i a tātou anō me ō tātou whānau.”
Here’s what you need to know about travel during the bad weather that’s forecast for this weekend due to Cyclone Vaianu.
Cyclone Vaianu is forecast to hit the North Island from this Saturday (11 April) and is highly likely to cause significant disruption to travel on the roads, especially on Sunday.
Always check our page before you travel to see if state highways are affected. Follow us if you aren’t already.
Avoid travelling in severe weather. If you absolutely must travel, slow down, increase your following distance, and turn your headlights on dipped. Don’t drive through any floodwater, even if it looks shallow.
Here’s what we’re doing to prepare our state highways as much as we can in advance of the weather:
• We have roadworkers across the North Island proactively clearing drains and culverts so we can reduce the rain’s effect on the roads.
• Roadworkers will respond to any effects on the state highways as soon as it’s safe for them to be out on the roads. This includes clearing slips, fallen trees, flooding, or other things that may block the state highways.
• We’ll always keep state highways open for as long as it’s safe to travel, but be prepared for us to close affected state highways if your safety is at risk. Keep in touch with us through our pages below.
Stay safe and follow Wellington Region Emergency Management Office, MetService New Zealand, and us for updates.
Prepare for the bad weather from now. Use the advice in this post from NZ Civil Defence: https://www.facebook.com/NZCivilDefence/posts/pfbid0zMxd5LYKpAdKN1Trr78ixeYbg8P1sWkKw1DfiQGgU5317DTTSEMXn1imr4LD6NEtl
