# Do Brits find New Zealand cold???



## Paddy234 (Aug 10, 2015)

Reading online about the comparisons in climate it seems Brits see NZ just as the same as the UK. What is the opinion of people on this forum as i find this crazy unless the British climate is a whole lot better than the Irish one. My experience living in Christchurch is that its the opposite of home. For every few days of beautiful sunny weather at home we are treated to a week of rain or even thunder. In Christchurch for every day or two of rain is a week of beautiful sunny days. Back home from September to may the weather is awful. Here from September to may the weather is warm to hot with October being the month when you start going to the beach. I've been wearing sun-cream since August. 

I would say i feel the difference more since i work outside and because the sun is the strongest in the world, even in a winter sunny day you'll be down to a t-shirt at times. A 15 degree sunny day in New Zealand easily feels like 20 degrees back home and that's how people should look at the difference. I was in Thailand last Christmas with temperatures being around 35 degrees with high humidity. It was hot, an oven type hotness however sun-cream on in the morning stopped me getting burnt all day. Went back to Christchurch that hadn't seen rain for over a month, was lying on the beach at around 25 degrees and burned in 20 minutes in a small part of my leg that i didn't put enough sun-cream on. I definitely. think the climate argument needs to be put into perspective and is one of the main reasons people come and stay here such as myself.

To many people in Ireland and Britain who are interested in moving away from the dull climate who research into this will be mislead therefore choosing OZ that has a climate mostly similar to North Africa. They will go for the extreme thinking they can handle it and end up spending a large amount of their summer ozzy days inside with the aircon on like some i know


----------



## mikesurf (Nov 7, 2012)

The fact that this issue keeps on turning up and people keep arguing about it, tells me that the NZ and UK climates are quite similar. If you go into the far North then yes the climte becomes warmer and wetter, further south colder and drier. Christchurch certainly gets more sunshine hours than the UK but to say that it is regularly hot is an exageration. The prevailing north easterly wind regularly cools down a warm day in Christchurch. Also the fact that you burn very easily in NZ is no good thing. Have a look at the skin of a lot of older locals, and some younger. I went from Devon in the UK and have to say the two places are not hugely different temperature wise. You also have to remember that the quality of houses between the two countries is a big factor to whether you are warm or not. Very regulary the indoor temperature will be colder than outdoors in badly insulated homes.


----------



## Paddy234 (Aug 10, 2015)

I see people enqiring all the time about Australias climate therefore i sew no difference here, its simply to put things into perspective for those researching. From december to march it definitely does get quite hot regularly and september to december is generally warm with plenty of hot days. The biggest evidence that its not similar is the difference in lifestyle. NZ is an outdoor lifestyle due to its warmer and sunnier climate. Back home more people spend most of their money on materialistic things to keep themselves occupied in the comfort of their own homes. Here its more comfortable outside and with so much to do with a climate to match. I wouldnt be here if the weather was similar to home. I do agree the quality of homes is much poorer though


----------



## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

We don't find it cold here in NZ. Just done 3 weeks in the UK and had pretty good weather for the whole duration but we all said we're looking forward to getting back to the warmth of the Bay Of Plenty


----------



## Paddy234 (Aug 10, 2015)

Also i apologies for the grammar in my previous post. I was typing on my phone but my thumbs are just too big lol


----------



## jawnbc (Apr 28, 2012)

I am married to a "POM". He's lived in England, Germany, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Sydney, Vancouver and now Auckland. NZ can feel very cold because a surprising number of buildings aren't insulated properly and central heat is uncommon in houses. 

We've seen it as low as 1C a couple of mornings, but most of the winter it bottoms out around 8C. Still usually 15C in the daytime. With a fresh breeze it feels brisker, but if you home is decently built, it will seem much warmer than the UK or Ireland. 

Summer is perfect: 25C with 80% humidity for about 4 months.


----------



## manckiwi (Jan 13, 2013)

Paddy234 said:


> The biggest evidence that its not similar is the difference in lifestyle. NZ is an outdoor lifestyle due to its warmer and sunnier climate. Back home more people spend most of their money on materialistic things to keep themselves occupied in the comfort of their own homes. Here its more comfortable outside and with so much to do with a climate to match. I wouldnt be here if the weather was similar to home. I do agree the quality of homes is much poorer though


So true! I'm a UK citizen in Manchester at the moment, planning to return to NZ in January, and the main reason is the climate! It makes such a difference to the lifestyle; I am fed up of being indoors all the time here! I can't wait to be back in NZ where I can be outdoors so much more without having to wrap up if I do go out.

I agree about the quality of housing too, so when I go back I'm determined to find a place that's well insulated.


----------



## workingnomad (Jan 30, 2014)

The terrible state of housing e.g. poor build quality will make you feel colder in NZ!


----------

