Kezzar

OK, so my husband has accepted a job offer in NZ (Wellington) and the visa application process begins...

BUT....are we naive to think that the weather in New Zealand is a lot better than the UK or IS it better than the UK? We've only ever been there on holiday twice for a couple of weeks and it was in summer so the weather seemed alright. What is it like over the year?? Does the sun shine more down in NZ than here in the UK?

jmh

I imagine it probably is, but by how much probably depends on where in the UK you come from. It rains there a lot more there than in the Southeast here for example. Summer is much more humid, especially in AKL. Not so sure about Wellington - I imagine the wind takes the edge off the heat.

rushmere

There's some interesting comparison information here

Boopy

To compare the weather with UK, I suppose it depends where you're coming from. I'm from the north east! So for me Welly beats hands down! I would generalise & say winters are like UK spring & spring & autumn are like UK summers & Welly's summers are awesome. The difference in winter is that you actually get some gorgeous sunny days, although it can get cold, when the sun shines here... it gets warm. You can have t shirt days from October to May. But saying that, the kiwis wear shorts all year round.
Spring can be very unpredictable, that's when we get the nasty winds, but not as bad as I was led to believe.... so all good!!

MOSO

I would agree with above, we've been here our first winter and it doesn't seem like there was a winter - it's certainly been more like spring and we haven't had a single frost in our garden.

There are two main factors with NZ weather, firstly the sun, it is SO powerful and if the sun's out it feels a lot warmer/hotter. Secondly there are huge variations in temperature/weather in just a few miles. We're about 1 hour north of Wellington, but over the last year I have lost count of the number of times I've spoken to my OH at work in Welly and he's said it's rainy/cold/windy etc in Wellington but it has been better here. Pukerua Bay seems like a weather changing point for this area.

The atmosphere is certainly damper too than the UK but overall I'd say it was better than the UK but certainly not unbearably hot. It's also like the UK in that it's unpredicatable, just because it's a sunny morning doesn't mean it'll stay like that all day.

Kezzar

Hmmmm, so a little mixed then. Although I was glad to hear some positive comments as well for Welly. It wouldn't have been our first choice because of the 'windy' weather but that's where the job is.
We coming over from Bath, Somerset so the weather here is milder than other parts of the UK I suppose.
We just want more sunnier days

Well, if all goes well...hopefully we'll be there in the next 3-4 months so it'll be SUMMER time....yay

debsnotdebbie

I originate from Manchester which is supposed to be the British capital of rain and I think Wellington is wetter, it rains lots. On sunny days which, are not that plentiful even in the summer, its beautiful so you just make the most of them. For all the rain, and lets not forget the wind, as a place to live in my opinion it beats Auckland everyday.

Good Luck with your move

Boopy

Depending on where you live in Welly, you will see a huge difference in the weather. We live 20Kms up the coast & its lovely, we don't get as much rain or wind as the central areas & it's usually a degree or 2 warmer. And if you live a further 20kms up the coast, the weather gets even warmer & more settled.
Many people prefer to live up the coast & commute to the city for that reason, from Kapiti it takes an hour on the train. All the way up the coast is park & rides on the rail link. I hope this helps you.

squarepants

We're up north so it's definitely warmer than a winter in UK, some days it's cold/wet and windy - then the next it'll be sunny and warm enough to walk bare foot on the beach.

Be careful though, we looked at rentals in the summer and when I asked about heating the agent laughed and talked about their mild winters. It's quite normal not to have any heating here so there were no alarm bells ringing in my head - where ever you live you need heating here. Don't fall into the same trap we did, it's an expensive mistake you only make once.

Make sure you buy or rent a place with good insulation and a wood burner, wet back or heat pump. If it has a heat pump, grill them about the insulation or your bills will be high. If it's rented and there are no curtain tracks (yup, we've got blinds) ask the L/L if you can put some up yourself.

Final tiny bit of advice for anyone who may be interested, don't be seduced by the houses with all the massive windows like we were. The bedroom was over heated for all the wrong reasons in the summer, and an ice box in the winter.

I woke up early yesterday morning and I could actually see my breath it was so cold.

I definitely prefer it here during the winter though, it's not as grey and depressing as UK and there are so many bright sunny days, you just wrap up and head out. It's gorgeous.

mickey_d

Winter should be warmer here, as the min angle of the Sun above the horizon is 10 degrees higher than in the the UK (Mid-Winter).

CarolineSwan

I come from Scotland, and for us here in NP the winter is like a scottish summer and thats no lie, oh wait it is, we see more sun here in the winter than we ever did in a summer back home
Ave temp out here in little old inglewood was around 13 , cant complain at that when out and about

squarepants

Too true, it's not just the temperature though - it's soooooo bright here, even when the sky is grey and overcast there seems to be more light - which I'm sure improves my mood.

We had a massive hail storm last week, and lightening struck one of the houses - but an hour later and it had cleared, the sun was out and we were walking on the beach collecting shells for our shell/sculpture/mountain/thing in the garden.

I did take my shoes off and venture into the see up to my ankles, but the temperature forced me back out screaming like a big girl.

CarolineSwan

your right about the brightness, i do believe its cos we have more sky here. I remember reading an article on Kylie and she was asked what she missed most about down under and her reply was the huge blue sky, so true, i love looking at the sky here and could picture it all day long, and dont get me started on the stars lol, aint they something

Mrs Pointer

That's one of the reasons we're coming....the sky in glasgow is so low you can practically touch it. I need to stare into a lightbox all winter just to get through and i find it claustrophobic. (I'm from the east of cost of scotland which has more sunshine and less rain and can't wait to leave w.scotland)

I really noticed the big sky in NZ....I don't mind variable weather, it's just the gloom I can't stand.

Toon_Nut

Couldn't agree more Mrs P, I don't mind rain, wind, snow or owt as long as it's not dull grey n cloudy all the time which for about 9 months of the year it is. I hate it!! The cold has never ever bothered me, in fact I love cold fresh CLEAR winter mornings.

You'd think after working outside every day for owa 20 odd year I would get used to it by now, Christ it's bloody depressing!

It's lashing doon right now, has been most of the day and i don't think I've seen a break in the clouds once, not good.