Another burst of wild weather could complicate ongoing recovery efforts down south

MetService has wind watches out this afternoon in Wairarapa, Tararua, Canterbury and Marlborough.

Another burst of wind is also expected in Wellington - along with heavy rain in parts of the South Island.

Meanwhile, rural communities in Otago and Southland are still facing power outages.

A state of emergency is still in effect in Southland, Clutha and Kaikoura and boil-water notices remain for Greymouth and Clutha

The defence force is helping transport generators and other equipment.

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell says there's a lot of work to do, especially in more rural areas.

He says with the amount of trees and powerlines down, it could take some time to fully restore power.