UPDATED 10.10pm Wild winds of up to 130km/h are hammering parts of the South Island tonight, taking down powerlines and trees and fanning a major fire that has destroyed at least one house.

Emergency services have attended a number of incidents in Southland and coastal Otago, where trees have been brought down by high winds, blocking roads.

Police issued a warning to motorists travelling in the Southern District to be careful on the roads as gale force winds had caused problems in the area.

"There is currently tree debris on State Highway 1 between Hampden and Oamaru," a statement said.

"Power is also being affected with lines coming down in the windy conditions. The weather is moving up the country and there have been recent weather related calls from the Oamaru area."

Police warned anyone who came across fallen powerlines to treat them as live.

The MetService has put out a severe weather warnings in a number of places including:

• Severe southwest gales in eastern Otago,

• Severe northwest gales over Canterbury, the Marlborough Sounds, Wellington and Wairarapa.

Gusts of between 120km/h to 130km/h were likely but were expected to ease by about midnight.

"Winds of this strength have the potential to bring down trees and powerlines, damage unsecure structures and make driving hazardous, particularly for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles. People are also advised to be aware of the fire risk in these areas," the warning said.

The severe winds had led to a major fire in Darfield, west of Christchurch, which left one house destroyed. Two sheds have also been burnt to the ground.

It is understood the fire broke out on Rowallan Road this afternoon near Coalgate, when a controlled burnoff went horribly wrong.

Selwyn District Council said nearby properties on those roads were being evacuated.

Twelve fire appliances and about 70 firefighters are at the fire. Five helicopters were either at the scene or on the way.

An incident command point is operating near the fire and there are some road closures in place nearby.

"Due to the significant strong nor'west wind conditions it is difficult for the Fire Service to control currently," the council said.

"Anyone near this location who is asked to leave their property by police or fire services should follow their instructions."

The fire now spans 60 hectares in size.

Fire crews were also called out to Tramway Rd, in Mt Somers, just after 5pm.

They were met by seven different fires and 15 crews -- made up of 50 firefighters -- worked to douse them.

There are no reports of injuries at either of these incidents.

The strong winds have cut power to more than 3500 people in Dunedin and Central Otago, and people are being warned that it may stay off overnight.

Aurora Energy said in a statement power was out to 1188 customers in Port Chalmers; 806 in Outram; 648 in North East Valley; 538 in Andersons Bay; and 343 in Berwick.

Fifty customers in Dalefield and Roxburgh were also without power at 8pm.

"We understand the inconvenience that the service interruptions and we will be working hard to restore power to remaining customers as soon as possible," the statement said.

There are also reports Macandrew Bay in Dunedin is without power.

Meanwhile, all remaining flights in and out of Dunedin tonight are cancelled.

There have been power outages at the airport and surrounding areas and the airport said travellers should contact their respective airlines.

Police and fire services in Dunedin were attending several wind-related incidents this evening, senior sergeant southern district police Craig Brown said.

Due to strong winds, a catamaran was also torn away from its mooring in Portobello, north of Otago, Mr Brown said.

"It was too rough so Coastguard couldn't recover it," he said.

Damaging gales were currently reaching 124km/h in the city, WeatherWatch meteorologist Duncan Philip said.

He said winds could strengthen.

"Just in the last couple of hours we've seen these winds really ramp up," he said.

The level of wind was "really concerning" for people living in the area.

"Northwesterly winds are strong and forceful," he said.

It was currently brushing the coastline and would move towards the Chatham Islands.

Gusty winds in Christchurch reached 90km/h today but it was much warmer with temperatures at 30C today.

However, there would be a "crazy drop" tomorrow, with a high of 15C, Mr Duncan said.

Wind in Wellington reached 110km/h this afternoon but dropped to 60km/h by early evening. The wind would ease by Saturday morning.