2015 was New Zealand’s sunniest year to date

Nine locations around New Zealand have experienced their sunniest year on record according to the NIWA Annual Climate Summary for 2015.

A sunny day in Dunedin. Image by Jocelyn Kinghorn / CC BY-SA 2.0

In the South Island, Dunedin, Greymouth and Cheviot experienced a 25 per cent increase in hours of sunshine. Other spots to set records include Lake Tekapo, Kaitaia, and Te Kuiti. Blenheim in the country’s Marlborough wine-growing region took the prize for the most sunshine hours beating the Bay of Plenty township of Whakatane. All six major cities in New Zealand were hotter than average. Auckland was the warmest city last year with an average temperature of 16C over the year. Dunedin was the coldest with an average temperature of 11.2C.

Read more: stuff.co.nz