Mornings darker, evenings shorter

Photo / Thinkstock

The mornings are darker and the evenings shorter as summer slowly approaches its official end next week.

WeatherWatch.co.nz says the sun is now rising roughly an hour later.

Head analyst Philip Duncan says it's setting 30 minutes earlier in the north, and an hour earlier in the deep south.

"The deep south notice it the most because they have these incredibly long days in summer and then in winter they have incredibly short days compared to the rest of the country. So they're the first to notice the change and it comes in quite rapidly for them.''