Motorists are urged to be extra cautious this morning as light rain has turned to ice across parts of Central, leaving roads treacherous.

The Central Otago District Council has crews out gritting affected areas, including Omakau, Ophir Lane, Poolburn Hill and Ida Valley-Omakau Rd.

Conditions at Chatto Creek have also proved dangerous after a bus rolled on State Highway 85, which left 14 people with minor injuries.

Fire crews from Alexandra and Omakau were called to the scene at about 9.40am, along with police, ambulance and power company, which had to tend to power lines that had come down.

The scene has now been cleared.

Parts of the Maniototo are also being monitored with the potential for temperatures to drop further.

There have also been reports of light rain around Cromwell and the Kawarau Gorge areas, which could also become hazardous if temperatures continue to drop, particularly in shaded areas and bridge decks.

One report sent into The Central App this morning warns motorists black ice has formed the length of the Ida Valley, making it “very treacherous”.

Omakau and Ophir residents have also reported icy conditions, including Renae Corlet who wished she had turned around and gone back home.

She said when she pulled onto the main street of Omakau to head to Alexandra, her car "practically drifted".

Renae considered turning around before she even reached the 100km sign exiting Omakau, but continued.

"I went with my intuition and proceeded on my drive, but I had the road slipping out from under me every few seconds until just past the Ophir turn off. I was hopeful it would get better, and it did for a short while until it got very bad again."

She said there weren't many other vehicles on the road, but she could tell those who were travelling in the opposite direction were also going very slow like herself.

"At one point I had a vehicle driving quite close behind me due to me going so slow, so I pulled over to let them pass. As they passed me, their whole vehicle went sideways for a good three seconds before they corrected themselves and continued driving. This whole drive I wish I had turned around, but I had committed and kept thinking it would get better and that if I turned around, I'd have to go through all that ice again. It took me 40 minutes, so double the time [it would usually take] to get into town."

Let us know what conditions are like at your place by emailing [email protected]

Click on The Central App’s Roads button to keep up to date on conditions.