Maz

Hi.

I've seen many people say how the weather is generally nicer than in the UK.

For those who've had the chance to compare, please could you specify a few things:

1. Where you're comparing from in the UK
2. Where you are / have been in NZ
3. Any specifics on seasonal changes

Thanks.

poppets

1. we are from Hertfordshire ,(30 miles north of london)
2. kapiti coast, 60kms /1 hr approx north of wellington
3. arrived April(autumn), warmer than expected & so was winter, got to sbout 5 degrees at coldest with snow on the ranges, but not in the town. The houses are colder cos not many have central heating /insulation, so the hot watre bottle gets a lot of use.
now in spring, fantastic when sun is out , really strong, can get windy too, nearly got blown over in welly the other day!!. rains quite a bit & when it does it p!sses it down.
others who have been here longer will explain it better but it wasn't as bad as i was expecting. Not as cold as Jan 06 in herts! scarfs & gloves never been worn by us here

dlmckay

1. Where you're comparing from in the UK Nottingham
2. Where you are / have been in NZ Auckland
3. Any specifics on seasonal changes By crikey, when it rains, it really, really rains!

I think the weather is moderately better than the UK because the UK suffers from overcastness - that constant grey cloud hanging over and doesn't let the sun in and causes a drizzly rain...

Auckland weather is so changeable - I hear people say "if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes" - and I feel this is really true. But the best thing about here is the amazing clear, blue skies which give you stunning sunsets to look at

Buzzy--Bee

Something a lot of UK people don't take into account is the wind. For instance, when it is a fine sunny day in NZ it is often blowing a gale so you can't really enjoy it like you can fine sunny days in the UK.



Buzzy

Jack The Lad

Hey up mate

Notts boy here- Have you managed to get any further north- Whangarei- if so is there much difference between the 2?

Cheers me duck

Maz

Hee hee, that sounds like Chicago! It changes SO quickly here. But they say "10 minutes" here not 5. We have lovely sunsets too as it's so flat.

Thanks for the responses, very encouraging.

Boopy

[QUOTE=Maz]Hi.

I've seen many people say how the weather is generally nicer than in the UK.

For those who've had the chance to compare, please could you specify a few things:

1. Where you're comparing from in the UK - Sunderland, North East
2. Where you are / have been in NZ - Wellington
3. Any specifics on seasonal changes - They say it' been the coldest & worst winter here in 40 yrs.

It as been very cold and wet, you can't compare the heating here to the UK.
The difference being - no long grey winter for months and months, and during winter you still get many days of sunshine and clear blue skies.

pixi-dust

1. Where you're comparing from in the UK Glasgow
2. Where you are / have been in NZ Top ish of the north island - Northland
3. Any specifics on seasonal changes Glasgow had had a couple of surprisingly warm summers before we left - but summer up here is way better - it was a pretty constant 28- 30 degrees most of last summer. There was some rain in early summer then we had nothing for ages - everything needed to be watered. I really loved summer - long, dry and warm.
Winter was at its coldest at night - a light frost - we had three mini frosts. During the day the warmest it got to was 18 and the coldest was about 7 - most of winter was somewhere inbetween this ( usually about 15) - the 7 was just one cold day. It isnt very windy where we are at all - if its a windy day its unusual.
We needed the woodburner on quite a lot but not nearly every day. It was actually dry - but everyone told us it was the worst winter they could remember! So it wasnt that bad if thats as bad as it gets.
They call it the winterless north but I wouldnt go that far - some dark days felt very wintery, but from spring to autumn is lovely.

binman

If you live in the Auckland region you can expect a stormy wet spring with occaisional warm days. Around the Christmas period the weather settles and is generally pleasant until end of May. Winters are cooler but interspersed with the odd glorious day.If you get a frost a lovely day generally follows. Auckland does not get too hot neither does it get cold. We have a north facing well insulated home and would not use heating during the day in winter. The children play outside throughout the year without shoes and rarely if ever would I need a jacket. http://www.emigratenz.org/NewZealandSunshine.html. Cheers binman

Maz

Interesting link, thanks binman! Never forget the old slip-slop-slap.

pixi-dust

26 degrees up here today barely a cloud in the sky - Binman I have just been round New World in my bare feet

Markk

Hi,

1. Reading
2. Tauranga
3. It's a lot sunnier here. The winter days aren't as cold and there is more
daylight.

I've been a bit of an anorak and found some figures from the met office. Here's a summary of Oxford (nearest I could find to Reading) and Tauranga.

Averages taken from 1971 - 2000 for Oxford
Averages taken from 1968 - 1998 for Tauranga.

0xford 642mm average rainfall / year, Tauranga 1202mm / year. When it rains here it REALLY rains!!!

Oxford 1537 hours of sunshine / year, Tauranga 2256 / year. There is nearly 50 % MORE sun here!

Oxford has 113 days rain / year, Tauranga 110. When it rains here it REALLY rains!!!

Oxford has 36 frosty days / year, Tauranga 6. We've been here for one winter and that seems about right. However, they have not been frosts as we UK natives know it, we have not had any sub zero nights where I live.

Oxford has an average July maximum temperature of 22.3 C, Tauranga 23.9C in January. Minimum averages for the same months are 12.8 and 16.4 respectively.

Oxford has an average Jan maximum of 7.2 C, Tauranga 14.3 C in July. Minimum averages for the same months are 1.9 and 8 respectively.

It really IS warmer here in winter. I think when people on here are saying it isn't they are being fooled by the lack of insulation in there houses.
In our case we fling the doors and windows open in winter because it's warmer outside than in! Of course I can only speak for this area before the usual suspects jump on me.

On the face of it looks like summers are fairly similar. In reality I think the UK probably has more extremes than Tauranga. I suspect the weather is a bit more 'reliable' here.

One other thing. The sun here is incredibly strong. It's been 23 degrees here today but felt much hotter. I'm normally quite resistant to hot sunshine but I had to take cover today. In July when it's 14-15 degrees it's quite possible to get sun burnt. You don't get sun burnt in the UK in January do you?

Cheers
Mark

Goldberry

From what I'm reading about the busject I keep thinking that insulation of the houses is the problem, not the weather.

Paladin

Geez Mark, that sure is a hell of a lot of rain - now I see how that situation occurred last year(?) with the mud slides etc in that area!!

Wow!!!

Still sounds more than offset by the extra sunshine hours to me!!!

Maybe see you in Feb matey!!!

Dave

helinuk

Markk
many thanks for all those figures. I've been meaning to look those up. Amazing rainfall! How do the locals cope? We were used to heavy rain in Singapore -the drains there were huge to cope with a monsoon downpour. Is there good drainage inTauranga? What are the council doing about the landslides?

Weatherwise I like the sound of Northland, Tauranga for sun/warm/beach/facilities
and Welly for a city of theatre /drama school for daughter. How do we decide especially as we haven't got a job to go to?