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New Zealand’s Climate

The Antipodean islands have long been regarded as one of the best places to live having a moderate temperature.

New Zealand based in the Southern Hemisphere has the average temperature which decreases as we go towards southern part of the country. Temperature during summer ranges between 20-30ºC and in winter between -1-15ºC which varies from region to region.

Maoris, the indigenous people of the land, named New Zealand as the “Land of Long White Cloud”. Weather and climate has been of vital importance to the people of New Zealand, since many of whom make their living from the land.

New Zealand has a varying temperature throughout the country with moderately high rainfall throughout the year, and long sunny days. Far north of New Zealand sees subtropical weather during summer, and inland alpine areas of the South Island can be as cold as -10 C in winter. The warmest months are January and February, and the coldest months are June, July and August. Temperature drops about 0.7°C for every 100 m of altitude. Nelson, at the top of the South Island is the sunniest city in the country, however most of the country enjoys over 2000 hours of sunshine per year. Most of the regions have rainfall between 600 and 1600mm, with the highest rainfall along the west coast in the South Island and the least on the east coast of the South Island, predominantly on the Canterbury Plains. .

To have latest updates on the New Zealand weather conditions you can visit
New Zealand Met Service Web site.

The midday summer solar radiation index (UVI) is often very high in most places and can be extreme in northern New Zealand and in mountainous areas.