Canterbury Police are dealing with a number of callouts in South Canterbury after heavy flooding in the area.

A spokesperson said a number of people have been leaving their homes to check out the flooding, putting themselves at serious risk.

Police are urging everyone in the affected areas to stay home, hunker down and wait for the weather to pass if they don’t absolutely need to go outside.

“Putting yourself at risk by sightseeing the floodwaters also puts emergency services and rescue crews at risk.”

Rescue crews have managed to safely retrieve a person who was trapped due to severe flooding in Walkhams Road in Ashburton today.

Search and rescue crews also responded to another incident in the Ashburton Forks area after reports a person was stuck in a river just before 10am this morning. 

That person has also been safely rescued.