More than 4,000 residents across Banks Peninsula lost power on Friday night as strong winds swept across the region.

According to Orion’s website, the outage began just after 9pm.

A spokesperson said the company was working to get field crews on site to investigate. “If you have any information as to the cause of this outage, please call us on 0800 363 9898. Thank you for your patience at this time.”

Fire and Emergency crews were kept busy responding to fallen trees on Christchurch-Akaroa Road, with similar incidents reported in Papanui.

MetService was forecasting severe gale northeasterlies, with gusts reaching up to 120 kilometres an hour in exposed parts of Banks Peninsula.

Meteorologist John Law earlier told Chris Lynch Media that Christchurch city was also in for a windy night, with conditions expected to improve on Saturday.

“It’s going to be a windy night tonight,” Law said. “Those winds coming off the sea and running through Banks Peninsula will be strong, and even in Christchurch City, it’ll feel like a blustery night with wet weather pushing through.”

Despite the unsettled conditions on Friday, there is some relief on the way.

“Tomorrow is looking much better,” Law said. “This band of wet weather moving across the country will clear, leaving behind a brighter and drier day for Saturday across Canterbury. It won’t be warm, but it’ll definitely be a better day than today.”

Sunday, however, is expected to bring a return to breezy conditions.