Police are warning motorists to take care on the roads on Monday, as many head home from a long weekend holiday in stormy conditions.
Strong winds and heavy rain is impacting Northland, Auckland and Coromandel, and Metservices warnings for the upper North Island are set to continue through Monday.
Its very, very wet and windy, Northland road policing manager senior sergeant Stephen Dickson said.
Police will be looking for unsafe driver behaviour on the roads on Monday. (File photo)
It’s imperative that people slow down and take care [in] the conditions … We want everyone to get home safely today.
READ MORE:* Weather: Trees on roads, power outages, rain in Northland, Auckland, Coromandel* One dead and three injured in crash on State Highway 85 in Otago* One person dead, two injured, after ute hits traffic light in Auckland
There have already been three fatalities on the road this Queens Birthday weekend, the same number as the entire holiday period last year.
Heavy rain will impact motorists heading home from the long weekend. (File photo)
The fatal crashes include a ute hitting a traffic light in the Auckland suburb of Waterview on early Sunday morning. One person died and two were injured in the single-vehicle crash.
Another person died and three people were injured in a crash between a ute and a motorcycle in rural Otago on Sunday. The crash occurred on State Highway 85 in the Round Hill area about 11.20am on Sunday.
The third fatality was a crash on State Highway 3 in Te Mapara, Waitomo, just after 7pm on Sunday. One person died and another was seriously injured in the two-vehicle crash.
Dickson said the number of fatalities this weekend was really concerning.
Every time theres a death on the roads it has a huge, traumatic effect on the whnau, family and friends of that person. We want our roads to be fatality-free.
Dickson said the easiest way to make the roads safer is for driver behaviour to improve.
We cant affect the weather. For the roads, the Government has a long-term plan but we cant impact that today. With the vehicle fleet in New Zealand, we cant really change that; it takes time.
Peoples behaviour is what can be changed and improved and made safer.
Thames-Coromandel civil defence controller Garry Towler told Stuff holidaymakers heading back from the Coromandel faced a slow trip home.
There will undoubtedly be delays.
Persistent rain has hit the Coromandel for the past 48 hours, Towler said, causing trees to collapse on roads and debris coming down all over the place.
Three trees had been cleared from different roads, and no routes had been closed yet.
Towler advised travellers to take extra care, and check the Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency website for any travel disruptions.
Waka Kotahi said drivers in the lower North Island should expect delays of between 15 minutes and half an hour travelling south between Manakau and Otaki.
In Auckland, traffic is expected to be heavy for those travelling southbound between Wellsford and Puhoi until 5.15pm.
Motorists driving between Northland and Auckland are encouraged to use State Highway 16 to help ease congestion on State Highway 1.
For those travelling north into Auckland, traffic will be heaviest on State Highway 1 between Bombay and Manukau between 2pm-6pm.
Police urged motorists to slow down, drive with a seatbelt on, not drive impaired, and put distractions like cellphones away while driving.
Dickson said police will be out on the roads on Monday, targetting unsafe behaviour to minimise serious injuries. Drink-driving checkpoints would also run later in the evening.
He urged drivers who have a long journey ahead of them to take a few minutes to think about the drive and make sure they are rested before they travel.
