The Christchurch City Council wants people to know they are still safe in the city's parks after high winds caused havoc in the city yesterday.

A French tourist was the person trapped under a fallen tree in a gusty Christchurch wind yesterday afternoon. Fire and Emergency were called to Rolleston Avenue at about 2.30pm as witnesses reported hearing a loud crack as the tree came down on the man.

Head of parks Andrew Rutledge says people should be cautious around trees if it's windy - but they have nothing to fear by going to the gardens.

He says people being injured by falling trees is extremely rare and the two incidents in the last two days were an anomaly.

“People shouldn’t be concerned as the Council follow international best practice on tree management and are on top of this.

"This is a really unique situation where we have had two incidents in a row, one in Queenstown and one in Christchurch."