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Guide To New Zealand Sunshine
Sunshine in New Zealand Locations
New Zealand is sunnier than North-Western Europe but is less sunny than the Mediterranean and much of the U.S.
New Zealand's sunshine is well spread throughout the year so winters tend to be quite bright.
| NZ Location | Annual Sunshine Hours |
| Invercargill | 1,600 |
| Dunedin | 1,600 |
| Palmerston North | 1,700 |
| Hokitika | 1,850 |
| Hamilton | 2,000 |
| Kaitaia | 2,050 |
| Christchurch | 2,050 |
| Wellington | 2,050 |
| Auckland | 2,050 |
| Alexandria | 2,050 |
| New Plymouth | 2,150 |
| Napier | 2,200 |
| Tauranga | 2,250 |
| Nelson | 2,400 |
| Blenheim | 2,500 |
| Overseas Location | Annual Sunshine Hours |
| London (UK) | 1,500 |
| Freiburg (Germany) | 1,700 |
| Toronto (Cananda) | 2,050 |
| Melbourne (Australia) | 2,100 |
| Florence (Italy) | 2,500 |
| Brisbane (Australia) | 2,750 |
| San Diego (California) | 3,000 |
Where Is It Sunniest?
New Zealand's sunniest places lie in sheltered spots at the northern tips of both islands - Blenheim and Nelson in the South Island and Tauranga in the North Island. The least sunny places lie in the far south and on the west coast.
New Zealand's three major cities all receive over two thousand hours of sunshine each year.
How Pleasant Is The Sunshine?
In high summer, the sunshine in New Zealand is really strong. You'll burn more easily here in New Zealand than anywhere in the Mediterranean.
For our scientifically minded readers, there are three reasons why the sun in the Southern Hemisphere is so strong.There is less ozone here to block the UV rays that cause sunburn.
Earth's orbit takes it closer to the sun during the southern summer than during the northern summer.
There is less pollution in the southern-hemisphere to block the UV rays.
You need to take precautions to avoid sunburn. If you arrive in summer, you'll notice that a surprising number of New Zealanders look like they're taking none - most people don't wear hats. Many New Zealanders are very slack about sun precautions so it's not surprising that there are high skin cancer rates here.
In fact, New Zealand has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world with almost 50,000 new cases diagnosed each year!! Thankfully most of these cases are not serious but about 200 New Zealanders die each year of skin cancer.
If you're worried about skin-cancer you can have your skin checked by skin-scans or mole-maps; you will see newspaper-ads in New Zealand for this type of check-up.
The common message is slip, slop, slap and wrap:
Slip on a shirt.
Slop on the sun cream.
Slap on a hat.
Wrap around sunglasses.