Both the Grey and Buller rivers were still rising at noon today, but civil defence said the rate had slowed.

Amazing pictures show a massive slip blocking a major South Island route as wild weather wreaked havoc on the West Coast today.

The summer "bomb low" is expected to continue to bring wild weather to the country today.

Holcim is in confidential negotiations with prospective buyers of its Westport assets, says capital projects manager, Ken Cowie.

Westport police say they are making progress in identifying who knocked out a local publican and broke his nephew's jaw on Sunday morning.

Labour leader Andrew Little is proposing a new solution to recover bodies in the Pike River coal mine.

The worst of the West Coast's wet weather should be over by dawn tomorrow, says Hokitika weather observer Mark Crompton.

Greymouth funeral director Laurie Anisy was a trainee and just two weeks shy of his 17th birthday when he got word there had been an explosion at the Strongman Mine.

Strongman mine disaster happened 50 years ago next week. Paul McBride catches up with the five surviving members of the Mines Rescue teams.

A West Coast Civil Defence warning of a possible big earthquake on the Coast was a "misinterpretation of the facts" caused by lack of training and understanding, says an independent report.

A Carters Beach family left the seafront yesterday afternoon just minutes before a freak wave flooded the adjacent domain, scattering huge logs like matchsticks.

Unionised resident doctors are reported to be working through the strike at some hospitals.

Residents in parts of the country have been warned to brace for widespread flooding, slips and fast-rising rivers as the mid-week weather system hits.

Shelly Crooks, 36, hasn't been seen since December 22 after telling a friend she was going to hitchhike from Punakaiki to Opotiki.

Doctors' strike at 18 DHBs to disrupt care for thousands of patients

A museum replica of the Seddon family homestead that once stood in Kumara has been suggested for the historic site.

A Westport publican was knocked out, his nephew suffered a broken jaw and a friend was badly bruised in a fracas early yesterday morning.

A minute's silence will be observed in Greymouth on Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Strongman Mine disaster which claimed 19 lives.

The Kaikoura earthquake badly hit tourism spending in the region but national figures are brighter.

A 58-year-old Dillmanstown man recently sentenced to home detention for drink-driving was arrested in Kumara early today after he cut off his electronic monitoring belt.

The now former police sergeant ordered another officer to fire a Taser in a 'flagrant abuse of his power' and he was also convicted for careless driving in 2014.

Police should not have twice Tasered a drunk West Coast man, authority rules.

Free tourist access to attractions like Punakaiki's Pancake Rocks and the Cape Foulwind seal colony is too costly for ratepayers, says Buller Mayor Garry Howard.

Buller's Old Ghost Road trail is proving so popular one of its huts is already almost booked out for the rest of the summer.

The Franz Josef Glacier heliport is among the busiest in the country with up to one helicopter movement every minute at the peak of season.

Kiwis cautioned after brazen robbery in Bali leaves West Coast woman without passport, travel documents, phone and money cards.

Actor and film director Ian Mune slammed the Government today as he joined protesters at the Pike River Mine entrance.

A Hari Hari woman has branched into tourism with a "floating golf" challenge at the man-made Ross Lake, in the historic Westland gold town.

Well-known director and actor Ian Mune has joined the Pike River families on their picket line.

Hundreds of tourists are milling around downtown Greymouth at weekends and evenings.