Australian bushfire smoke has delivered orange skies to New Zealand, prompting street lights to turn on and a flood of calls to emergency services.
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NZ Police on Sunday asked people to stop calling the national emergency line, triple one, to report the haze as it crossed the North Island.
"We are currently receiving high numbers of calls related to this," the force said in a statement.
The thick plume, originating more than 2200 kilometres away and painted Auckland orange, began to thin out over the country's biggest city about 7pm.
"Smoke will remain overnight but the main plume appears to have moved through," Weather Watch NZ said.
MetService, the national weather bureau, said an upper-level jet of westerly winds drove the smoke to NZ but southerly winds should clear the worst of the smoke on Monday.
"That point in the mid-afternoon in January when all the lights come on," author David Slack posted to Twitter, with a photo of Auckland's skyline.
"It's only 2020. How bad will this be later in the century if we don't do something?" Lauren McLean tweeted from Hamilton.
Monash University experts this weekend have reported that glaciers in NZ have turned brown after being exposed to the smoke, dust and ash which has drifted from Australia.
The NZ defence minister on Sunday confirmed the nation would send military support across the ditch to aid bushfire management.
The assistance will include personnel and three NZ Air Force helicopters.
The contingent will deploy to Royal Australian Air Force Base Edinburgh, in Adelaide, and will remain in Australia at least until the end of January, minister Ron Mark said.
Australian Associated Press
