Christchurch weather by month & the best time to visit
🇳🇿 New Zealand · city break · oceanic / maritime climate
The best time to visit Christchurch is February — its sunniest month (Sunshine Score 82/100), with March and January close behind. Christchurch averages about 2,377 hours of sunshine a year. Daytime highs around 23°C / 73°F and roughly 58 mm of rain in February.
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- Sun hours / year
- 2,377
- Sunniest month
- February
- Peak score
- 82/100
- Rain / year
- 845 mm
- Midday UV at peak
- 9 (very high)
- Population
- 419k
- Elevation
- 33 m
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When is the best time to visit Christchurch?
For sunshine, the best time to visit Christchurch is February, then March and January. The dullest month is July (13/100, 73 mm of rain). The full month-by-month picture is in the table below.
How sunny is Christchurch?
Christchurch gets a moderate 2,377 hours of sunshine a year. 69 Sunshine Score points separate February (82) from July (13), so the month you pick matters. It ranks #11 of 26 destinations in New Zealand for annual sunshine, above the national median of 2,342 hours. The year's 845 mm of rain spreads fairly evenly across the months, with no pronounced dry season.
Sunshine Score by month
| Month | Score | Day high | Night low | Rain | UV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 80 | 24° / 75°F | 12° / 54°F | 67 mm | 9 |
| February | 82 | 23° / 73°F | 11° / 52°F | 58 mm | 8 |
| March | 82 | 21° / 70°F | 10° / 50°F | 61 mm | 6 |
| April | 59 | 17° / 63°F | 7° / 45°F | 77 mm | 3 |
| May | 39 | 14° / 57°F | 5° / 41°F | 79 mm | 1 |
| June | 20 | 11° / 52°F | 3° / 37°F | 80 mm | 1 |
| July | 13 | 10° / 50°F | 2° / 36°F | 73 mm | 1 |
| August | 27 | 12° / 54°F | 3° / 37°F | 70 mm | 2 |
| September | 41 | 14° / 57°F | 4° / 39°F | 57 mm | 3 |
| October | 52 | 16° / 61°F | 6° / 43°F | 78 mm | 5 |
| November | 74 | 19° / 66°F | 8° / 46°F | 68 mm | 7 |
| December | 79 | 22° / 72°F | 10° / 50°F | 77 mm | 8 |
See Christchurch on the interactive sunshine globe →
Nearby places for sunshine
- Blenheim New Zealand · 245 km · best in Feb · 2,486 h sun/yr
- Wellington New Zealand · 304 km · best in Feb · 2,510 h sun/yr
- Dunedin New Zealand · 328 km · best in Feb · 2,093 h sun/yr
- Palmerston North New Zealand · 435 km · best in Jan · 2,196 h sun/yr
- Invercargill New Zealand · 465 km · best in Feb · 1,949 h sun/yr
- New Plymouth New Zealand · 517 km · best in Jan · 2,321 h sun/yr
Nearest destinations
- Westport New Zealand · 210 km · 2,175 h sun/yr · best in Feb
- Nelson New Zealand · 250 km · 2,486 h sun/yr · best in Feb
- Picton New Zealand · 265 km · 2,486 h sun/yr · best in Feb
- Wanaka New Zealand · 296 km · 2,430 h sun/yr · best in Feb
Head-to-head
How Christchurch compares month by month: Christchurch vs Wellington · Christchurch vs Dunedin · Christchurch vs Invercargill · Christchurch vs Blenheim · all comparisons
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