A couple play petanque at Mission Bay on a summer's day in Auckland. Daylight hours are increasing as we get further away from the shortest day of the year. Photo / File
The long, dark, gloomy days of winter are almost behind us as we inch closer to a brighter spring.
There's been such a marked difference in added sunlight hours since the shortest day in June, that those in the South Island have gained almost an extra hour of daylight, while
Aucklanders are getting nearly 30 minutes more.
Weatherwatch.co.nz head forecaster Philip Duncan says once it gets to September, the country gains an extra 20 minutes of sunlight each week until daylight savings kicks off.
Duncan added the country had now, as of this week, officially finished the solar winter, the 12 weeks of the year with the least amount of available sunlight - six weeks either side of the shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.
However, just because it was getting lighter, didn't necessarily mean it would get warmer.
