Still time to hit the beach

Don’t fold away the summer shorts just yet.

After suffering what felt like one of the worst summers in 30-odd years, the MetService forecast has piqued hope with a forecast for the Wellington region showing more than 10 days with mostly warm sunshine.

The fine run started started on Monday with a high of 24 degrees Celsius and the forecast shows temperatures lingering a few degrees lower into the start of Autumn in early March.

MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray said part of the change came down to the shifting gears of the Southern Annular Mode.

The mode controls the ring of westerly winds that circle the South Pole so now that it was changing from a negative to a positive, the country’s western regions could be particularly warmer and drier as opposed to the cold and wet of its negative phase.

‘‘There’s still a chance to get to the beach this summer. We’re definitely going to be dry and we will definitely see plenty of sunshine.’’

In Kapiti - though splashed with a couple of signs of drizzle - the area was looking crisp with extended periods of sun over the next fortnight.