Severe rain and wind warnings and a drop in temperatures have been issued for parts of the South Island and lower North Island this weekend.

A boat belonging to a Marlborough man missing for more than a week has been recovered overnight but there is no sign of Kerry Blair aboard.

A Navy ship is attempting to close in on the last known location of a boat belonging to a missing Marlborough man.

A possible sighting of the missing launch Erie and its skipper William Kerry Blair has been eliminated as being another boat, police say.

Searchers have run out of leads in the hunt for missing Marlborough boatie Kerry Blair.

A plane carrying three search and rescue spotters has found no trace of a Marlborough boatie who disappeared four days ago.

A Marlborough man who went to get fish and chips on a aluminium boat at the weekend never returned.

Seddon has been shaken by another earthquake this morning. The quake measured 3.7 in magnitude and rattled the area at 12.48am this morning, according to GeoNet.

World-famous astronaut Chris Hadfield says the place on earth he would most like to visit after his space odyssey is Marlborough.

A pilot declared an emergency when he heard a bang in the light aircraft he was flying with seven people on board early this afternoon.

Alexia Santamaria enjoys the view and the exercise as she tours Marlborough's wineries on a bike.

The owners of a Picton house hit by a landslip yesterday have been told the property is temporarily unfit to live in.

Residents of a Picton house escaped injury today when a landslip hit their home and broke through a wall, as torrential rain lashed central New Zealand today.

A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 15 years for murdering his mother in Picton earlier this year.

Barney McDonald enjoys the taste of a Cloudy Bay experience.

Blenheim, named for a battle, is a peaceful oasis, writes Elisabeth Easther.

Residents in one of the Marlborough streets battered by this week's quakes are seeking solace from each other while anxiously awaiting aftershocks.

The severe earthquake which rocked NZ this afternoon sent workers in Wellington running into the streets as the ground shook and buildings swayed from side to side.

Marlborough and Wellington residents tell their stories of today's earthquake and its aftermath.

A series of aftershocks have rumbled across central New Zealand this morning, sparked by a strong magnitude 4.9 jolt near Seddon, Marlborough shortly before 1am.

A shallow 4.2 magnitude earthquake has been detected near East Cape, after a strong aftershock near Wellington this morning.

Residents have cleared out of a central Wellington street while urgent work is carried out on a quake-damaged carpark lift which could come crashing down in an aftershock.

More than 1000 claims have been lodged with the Earthquake Commission following the swarm of quakes centred off the Seddon coast.