• Motorists urged to take care with snow warnings for Desert Rd, Napier-Taupo Rd and Rimutaka Hill Rd
• South Island roads impacted include the Lindis, Lewis, Porters, Arthur's Passes and the highway between Dunedin to Waitati
• Sub-zero temperatures expected for South Island
• Schools closed in Dunedin
The bitter cold snap is set to smash a weather record that has stood for more than a century as an icy chill takes hold of the South Island.
Temperatures are set to plunge to a frigid minus 15C across the South Island tonight - but it's expected to be even colder overnight Saturday.
Philip Wallace captured this footage showing snow falling in Wellington at the Rimutaka summit.
Niwa forecaster Ben Noll said forecasters were keeping a close eye on Queenstown where it could reach one of the coldest temperatures since record keeping began 145 years ago.
"The coldest temperature for August is -7.8C and I can tell you they will be in the neighbourhood of that number," he said.
The coldest temperature ever recorded in the popular resort town was -12.2C in 1995.