Watch: Air NZ plane forced to abort landing in wild Christchurch weather

The polar blast sweeping the country lead to some hair-raising flying conditions in Christchurch on Tuesday.

Video captured by NZ1 Aviation on YouTube shows Air New Zealand Flight 5349 from Wellington attempting to land in Christchurch in wind and rain.

The plane, an ATR-72 aircraft, could be seen rocking from side-to-side as it approached the runway.

It made its first attempt to land shortly after midday, before circling back for a successful second attempt 15 minutes later.

The same aircraft then operated an onward flight to Queenstown.