Christchurch City Council says heavy rain is forecast for Christchurch and Banks Peninsula over the next 24 hours, and motorists are being warned to expect surface flooding on the roads.

The council says the most extensive rain is expected to fall between midnight tonight and 9am Friday.

However Blue Skies weather forecaster Tony Trewinnard says “the heavy rain should miss Christchurch, more likely from about Amberley northwards.”

Metservice only had rain warnings for North Canterbury north of Waipara.

Council City Services General Manager David Adamson says while Christchurch’s land drainage network should cope with the amount of rain forecast, and no extreme tides due, the rainfall is likely to cause some minor surface flooding on the roads, particularly in the lower-lying areas of the city.

“Please take extra care if you are on the roads. If you do encounter some surface flooding, try and take an alternate route. If you have to drive through, make sure you can do it safely and reduce your speed so that you don’t push the water onto neighbouring properties.’’

“We are closely monitoring the weather and we have contractors on standby to put out flooding signs and to close roads if required.’’

The wintry blast is also affecting other parts of the South Island. People heading out of Christchurch for the weekend should check NZTA for information about the driving conditions on the state highways.