Wellington  - A lightning bolt killed a 50-year-old man and the horse he rode in on during a storm that battered New Zealand's far north on Tuesday, police said.

Four other people with the man, who was riding on a farm at Mahuta, near Dargaville, were taken to hospital but were apparently not hurt, Radio New Zealand said.

As the storm moved south, the weather office advised people in Auckland and the Waikato province to stay indoors and motorists to pull off the road until it passed. (dpa)