July was the cruellest month in Chch

July was a miserable month for Christchurch residents, the official weather summary has confirmed.

While Christchurch was the coldest of the six main centres last month, the West Coast and parts of the lower South Island had frequent sunshine and managed to dodge most of the rain clouds.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research said frequent easterly and southeasterly winds were responsible for the murky Canterbury weather.

Christchurch's mean temperature for the month of 5.4deg was 0.4deg below average and 1.4deg colder than Dunedin. The Garden City had 67mm of rain, marginally below average.

Christchurch had 123 hours of bright sunshine, 16 fewer than Dunedin. Even Invercargill had five more hours of sun than Christchurch.

Auckland was the warmest centre with an average temperature of 10.3deg, Wellington was the wettest with 119mm, Dunedin the driest and Tauranga the sunniest with 183 hours of bright sun.

Greymouth's 157 hours was its third-highest July reading in 63 years of records. Hanmer Springs had the coldest reading of -9.6deg on the 12th.

- © Fairfax NZ News