Live: Heavy rain and king tides looming as Cyclone Fehi wraps up

What you need to know:

• The 115 trapped tourists near Fox Glacier are expected to be rescued sometime today.

• States of emergency are still in place in Dunedin and Buller as the clean-up begins.

• Although the storm has eased for most of the country some areas will still experience heavy rain and strong winds throughout the day.

• King tides are causing problems in low-lying areas.

Much of the country will spend the morning assessing the damage left by ex-Cylone Fehi but raincoats and umbrellas should not be hung up as heavy rain continues to affect parts of the country.

King tides this morning could also pose challenges for low-lying areas and are scheduled in Kaiaua about now and at Westhaven, Auckland, at 9.37am.

This morning's king tide in Christchurch is also flooding low-lying streets around the Heathcote and Avon rivers and in New Brighton.

The West Coast was hit particularly hard yesterday leaving locals "blown away" by how much damage was done.

Felled trees and slips blocked parts of State Highway 6, stranding 115 motorists near Fox Glacier.

Westland Mayor Bruce Smith said they were expecting large volumes of rain, but the wind caught them by surprise.

He said the stranded motorists had been contacted and a helicopter would be sent, weather permitting, to the area with the hopes of getting them out some time today.

"Police are in charge of that and are onto it - they started very early this morning," he told Newstalk ZB.

"There are lots of logs down on the state highway, power down in lots of places. It will be a big clean-up, there is a huge mess mainly from the wind and tide.

"We are into clean-up mode, taking care of displaced people, and checking those who lost property got to safety.

"Emergency response teams working all night have done a fantastic job."

Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull told Newstalk ZB although the weather had settled overnight the state of emergency would remain in place.

"It is mainly because of contamination. There is only so much we can clean up in the dark."

He expected the state of emergency to be lifted today.

Emergency services would be today checking on the 50 or so houses that had been affected by flooding.

"There has not been a huge amount of damage to public infrastructure, but those 50 homes will be badly affected. A major rest home had to be evacuated as well."

Yesterday's storm surge and king tide caused a sewage pump failure in Nelson,​ leading to an overflow of untreated sewage and stormwater contaminants into Nelson Haven and Waimea Estuary.

Nelson City Council is advising the public not to swim or have contact with the water in those areas, including Tahunanui Beach.

Dunedin Civil Defence Emergency Management said the rain had stopped and floodwaters had largely receded across the city.

Fire and Emergency NZ said it had more than 228 weather-related calls across the country yesterday, 210 of which were in the South Island.

Another 260 calls were for structure and vegetation fires, medical emergencies, and road crashes.

Most schools will be open as normal this morning, but the best information will come from schools and early learning services themselves.

Yesterday, 26 schools were closed - 13 on the West Coast and 13 in Otago.

Eight preschools were also closed.

The Ministry of Education advises parents to keep in contact with schools and early learning centres.

​Ministry deputy secretary for support Katrina Casey said the ministry was in close contact with schools near wastewater overflows.

"It may well be that schools are okay, but access to them might be a problem. It's also possible that some schools may be affected by waste water issues."

Jetstar said there were no weather-related disruptions this morning although 10 flights were cancelled because of the weather in Nelson, New Plymouth, Queenstown and Wellington yesterday.

WeatherWatch.co.nz head weather analyst Philip Duncan said remnants of the storm would hover around both islands today, and heavy rain would still affect parts of the West Coast and Nelson ranges.

"The worst is definitely over now across the whole country and we will see a gradual improvement in a number of areas, with the exception of maybe central New Zealand," he said.

Duncan said Kiwis would have to wait another week to get back into that feel of summer.

"Places like Auckland have showers in the forecast, some of them could be quite heavy, and there will be some areas with downpours and showers, while other areas are sunny and dry."

Duncan said the heat wave was definitely over for now, with parts of the lower South Island dropping to temperatures of 6C and 7C, "which is a very dramatic drop from having highs in the late 30s".

"In fact it is snowing on the ranges of ski fields in Queenstown," he said.

But we shouldn't be in a hurry to hang up our rain jackets: another tropical is storm is looming.

"By the end of next week we will be looking at another tropical low," Duncan said.

"It is not necessarily going to be a storm, but there are signs that there are going to be tropical cyclones to the north of the country.

"We are certainly not finished yet with this La Nina weather pattern."