The Hendl, Roy, McMillan, Cunninghame and Clark families from Southland are enjoying their summer holiday in Alexandra, including playing on the water at Lake Dunstan. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERYThe long-awaited summer in the South is taking its time arriving, especially in Dunedin, where cloud and a lack of sunshine marked the peak holiday period. In the period from Christmas Eve to January 1, when most of us are on holiday, sunshine was a rare occurrence in the South. Things were slightly more promising in Alexandra, which was just above the long-term average for sunshine hours though there was just over four hours of sunshine on December 30. MetService recorded just 1.6 sunshine hours on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day had 3.8 hours and there was just over an hour on January 2.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 05, 2026 17:01 UTC