RATHER improbably, the weather in December 2025 followed the pattern set by November, being much sunnier, wetter and warmer than normal.

It began wet, with rain all day on Monday, December 1, the south-west wind gusting to gale force. There were showers and bright periods the next day, skies clearing later to allow a touch of frost. Then Wednesday, December 3, offered us unbroken sunshine under a ridge of high air pressure.

This was a transient feature, as low pressure systems were queueing up over the Atlantic. Friday, December 5, was another very wet day, with plenty more rain in the following week. This arrived on a flow of exceptionally mild air of subtropical origin in the circulation of Storm “Bram”. Although it was often pretty windy, temperatures by day and night were far above normal, Sunday, December 7, being the third warmest December day on record in this area with a maximum temperature in Wellington of 14.5⁰C (58⁰F). Patchy light rain during the day on Monday, December 8, became heavy during the night, with conditions then becoming changeable for a few days with showers and some sunshine, especially towards the end of the second week.

Monday, December 15, began another wet spell in a most emphatic way. After a damp day, we had several hours of heavy, and at times torrential, rain during the evening. The 38mm (1.5 inches) in the Wellington rain gauge next morning was the heaviest December “daily” rainfall event here since 2013. There was widespread flooding, but at least Clatworthy Reservoir had refilled. There was a further 50mm (two inches) of rain during the following week, but temperatures remained above normal with lengthy spells of sunshine as well.

Only after the shortest day was there a change in the weather pattern. As high air pressure developed over Scandinavia, winds backed first to the south-east, and then around to the north-east. Temperatures dropped below average, being close to freezing on several nights and with an added wind-chill factor at times, the maximum temperature on Boxing Day being a mere 3.4⁰C (38⁰F). Although a couple of days over the Christmas period were resolutely dull, the final week of the year included three days of unbroken sunshine, including Christmas Day itself. New Year’s Eve welcomed us with ice and frozen ground after the coldest night of the winter so far, the minimum in Wellington being minus 4⁰C (25⁰F).

In the end, December 2025 proved to have been one of the sunniest on record in this part of the country. The mean temperature of 6.6⁰C (44⁰F) was 1.5⁰C above average, and the total rainfall of 177mm (seven inches) was 150 per cent of normal. Since 1960, ten Decembers have been wetter, while just seven have been warmer, with four of those in the last ten years. The year as a whole tied with 2022 as the second-warmest ever, 0.1⁰C cooler than 2023, while the total rainfall was 90 per cent of the average.