A person has been transported to hospital after a tree which blew down in high winds this afternoon (Thursday September 28) hit a car travelling on SH6 near Lake Hāwea.

A police spokesperson said police were advised at 4.20pm that a car had been struck by a falling tree.

The incident at the base of Maungawera Hill, which happened during a brief but violent southerly storm, was attended by police, volunteer firefighters, St John ambulance and the rescue helicopter.

St John told the Wānaka App that staff assessed three patients, two of whom did not have injuries.

A third person was flown to Dunstan Hospital in Clyde with moderate injuries.

Motorists stopped to aid the north-bound car and its passengers before the emergency services arrived.

One of the first people on the scene told the Wānaka App it was “a pretty decent tree” which took a lot of work to move.

“We just grabbed some tools and jumped down there and tried to cut some branches off.”

The man said a ute backed up to the tree and the driver attached a strop to the tree to pull it off the road.

“He drives forward, the tree slingshots his truck backwards and he starts doing skids on all four wheels. Wow. It was like, oh that's a pretty big tree.”

PHOTO: Cory O’Regan