Today is the Spring Equinox – 3:09pm to be exact.

The spring equinox is, for some, the official start of spring here in New Zealand – but also signifies the end of summer for those in America and Canada.

From today onwards the sun will be spending more time shining over the Southern Hemisphere than the Northern.

This extra sunlight clashing with the leftover winter cold usually creates our stormiest and windiest weather – which is why it isn’t too surprising that today will be windy almost everywhere across New Zealand.

Windier weather is likely for the next 4 to 6 weeks says WeatherWatch.co.nz.

October is quite often a stormy and windy month with conditions usually calming back down again in November as we head into the summer months.

Image: Spring in Christchurch’s Botanical Gardens / Peter Shone