New Zealand's Climate

New Zealand has mild temperatures, moderately high rainfall, and many hours of sunshine throughout most of the country. New Zealand’s climate is dominated by its high mountains and the sea. These mountain ranges, combined with the ocean that surrounds New Zealand heavily influence the climate. New Zealand does not have a large temperature range, and lacks the extremes found in most continental climates. However, the weather and temperature can suddenly change- if a cold front or tropical cyclone blows in. It mainly snows in mountain areas, although the east and south of the South Island experience some snow in Winter because New Zealand is located in the Southern Hemisphere. There may be a sequence of a few days of fine weather and clear skies, and then separated by days of unsettled weather and heavy raining.
One of the major impacts of climate change in New Zealand is that there is a fluctuation in rainfall patters, higher rainfall in the West, less in the East. There are also more frequent weather extremes like droughts and rainfall. Rising sea levels and melting glaciers.