Christchurch weather in October

In October, Christchurch sees average daytime highs of 14°C and overnight lows near 9°C, with 48 mm of rain across 9.4 wet days and about 13.2 hours of daylight. It is the 7th-warmest and 9th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 13°C in the first days to 15°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 30% of the time in October, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 12 h 30 min at the start of October to 13 h 54 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, October is Christchurch's 9th-clearest and 4th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Christchurch's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 14°; 7th warmest
Overnight low: 9°; 6th coldest
Rainfall: 48 mm; 9.4 wet days
Daylight: 13 h 12 min; 6:38 AM – 7:51 PM
Cloud cover: 59%; 9th clearest
Wind: 16 km/h; 4th windiest
Solar energy: 5.29 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.1; out of 10

Christchurch is largest city in the South Island of New Zealand.

Air quality: Moderate; PM2.5 10.2 µg/m³ · 2012
Density: 1,420/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1848

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

← September Christchurch year-round climate November →Best places to visit in October

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in October

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about 13°C in the first days to 15°C by the end.

A typical October day in Christchurch reaches about 14°C in the afternoon and slips back to 9°C overnight — a 5°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 11°C and 17°C. Set against its neighbours, October runs about 2°C warmer than September and about 2°C cooler than November.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	15	15	15	15	15
Avg low (°C)	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	13	8
2	13	8
3	13	8
4	13	8
5	13	8
6	13	8
7	13	8
8	13	8
9	13	8
10	13	8
11	13	8
12	13	8
13	14	8
14	14	8
15	14	8
16	14	8
17	14	9
18	14	9
19	14	9
20	14	9
21	14	9
22	14	9
23	14	9
24	14	9
25	14	9
26	14	9
27	15	9
28	15	9
29	15	9
30	15	9
31	15	10

Christchurch weather by month

How October compares with the rest of the year at a glance. October is the 7th-warmest and 9th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	19° / 14°	49	8.1	14.9	6.3
Feb	19° / 14°	39	6.6	13.8	6.5
Mar	17° / 13°	45	6.8	12.4	6.1
Apr	15° / 10°	52	8.8	10.8	4.8
May	13° / 8°	48	8.2	9.5	3.8
Jun	11° / 6°	58	8.9	8.8	2.6
Jul	10° / 5°	52	8.4	9.1	2.2
Aug	10° / 6°	48	8.8	10.2	2.5
Sep	12° / 7°	43	8.1	11.7	3.3
Oct	14° / 9°	48	9.4	13.2	4.1
Nov	16° / 10°	49	9	14.5	4.9
Dec	17° / 12°	53	9.4	15.2	5.6

Cloud cover in October

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 30% of the time in October.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 20% of October, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 50%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	49	49	49	46	47	46	46	44	45	44	45	45	46	48	49	50	51	52	52	53	53	54	54	54	54	55	55	54	54	54	53
Cloudier (%)	51	51	51	54	53	54	54	56	55	56	55	55	54	52	51	50	49	48	48	47	47	46	46	46	46	45	45	46	46	46	47

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	49	51
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	46	54
5	47	53
6	46	54
7	46	54
8	44	56
9	45	55
10	44	56
11	45	55
12	45	55
13	46	54
14	48	52
15	49	51
16	50	50
17	51	49
18	52	48
19	52	48
20	53	47
21	53	47
22	54	46
23	54	46
24	54	46
25	54	46
26	55	45
27	55	45
28	54	46
29	54	46
30	54	46
31	53	47

Chance of precipitation in October

Any precipitation

Christchurch gets around 48 mm of rain over 9.4 wet days in October. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 30% and peaks near 32% on the wettest days.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	31	31	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	31	31	30	30	29	29	29	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	29	29	29	29	29

	Rain chance (%)
1	31
2	31
3	32
4	32
5	32
6	32
7	32
8	32
9	32
10	32
11	32
12	32
13	31
14	31
15	30
16	30
17	29
18	29
19	29
20	28
21	28
22	28
23	28
24	28
25	28
26	28
27	29
28	29
29	29
30	29
31	29

Humidity in October

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of October feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, October lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in October

Winds average 16 km/h in October.

Across October, daily wind ranges from about 16 km/h on the calmest days to 16 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
Feels	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	16	light breeze
2	16	light breeze
3	16	light breeze
4	16	light breeze
5	16	light breeze
6	16	light breeze
7	16	light breeze
8	16	light breeze
9	16	light breeze
10	16	light breeze
11	16	light breeze
12	16	light breeze
13	16	light breeze
14	16	light breeze
15	16	light breeze
16	16	light breeze
17	16	light breeze
18	16	light breeze
19	16	light breeze
20	16	light breeze
21	16	light breeze
22	16	light breeze
23	16	light breeze
24	16	light breeze
25	16	light breeze
26	16	light breeze
27	16	light breeze
28	16	light breeze
29	16	light breeze
30	16	light breeze
31	16	light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in October

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 12 h 30 min at the start of October to 13 h 54 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 84 minutes over October. Sunrise moves from 7:04 AM to 6:15 AM, and sunset from 7:33 PM to 8:11 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	12.5	12.5	12.6	12.6	12.7	12.7	12.8	12.8	12.9	12.9	13.0	13.0	13.1	13.1	13.2	13.2	13.3	13.3	13.4	13.4	13.5	13.5	13.6	13.6	13.6	13.7	13.7	13.8	13.8	13.9	13.9
Sunrise (AM)	7:04	7:02	7:01	6:59	6:57	6:55	6:53	6:52	6:50	6:48	6:46	6:45	6:43	6:41	6:40	6:38	6:36	6:35	6:33	6:31	6:30	6:28	6:27	6:25	6:24	6:22	6:21	6:20	6:18	6:17	6:15
Sunset (PM)	7:33	7:34	7:35	7:36	7:37	7:39	7:40	7:41	7:42	7:44	7:45	7:46	7:47	7:49	7:50	7:51	7:52	7:54	7:55	7:56	7:58	7:59	8:00	8:01	8:03	8:04	8:05	8:07	8:08	8:09	8:11

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	12.5	7:04	7:33
2	12.5	7:02	7:34
3	12.6	7:01	7:35
4	12.6	6:59	7:36
5	12.7	6:57	7:37
6	12.7	6:55	7:39
7	12.8	6:53	7:40
8	12.8	6:52	7:41
9	12.9	6:50	7:42
10	12.9	6:48	7:44
11	13.0	6:46	7:45
12	13.0	6:45	7:46
13	13.1	6:43	7:47
14	13.1	6:41	7:49
15	13.2	6:40	7:50
16	13.2	6:38	7:51
17	13.3	6:36	7:52
18	13.3	6:35	7:54
19	13.4	6:33	7:55
20	13.4	6:31	7:56
21	13.5	6:30	7:58
22	13.5	6:28	7:59
23	13.6	6:27	8:00
24	13.6	6:25	8:01
25	13.6	6:24	8:03
26	13.7	6:22	8:04
27	13.7	6:21	8:05
28	13.8	6:20	8:07
29	13.8	6:18	8:08
30	13.9	6:17	8:09
31	13.9	6:15	8:11

Solar energy in October

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in October, about 5.29 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.44 kWh/m² to a high of 6.97 kWh/m² in January across the year — October's 5.29 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	4.5	4.5	4.6	4.6	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.8	4.8	4.9	5.0	5.0	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.3	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.9	5.9	6.0	6.0	6.0
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	4.5	Bright
2	4.5	Bright
3	4.6	Bright
4	4.6	Bright
5	4.7	Bright
6	4.7	Bright
7	4.7	Bright
8	4.8	Bright
9	4.8	Bright
10	4.9	Bright
11	5.0	Bright
12	5.0	Bright
13	5.1	Bright
14	5.2	Bright
15	5.2	Bright
16	5.3	Bright
17	5.4	Bright
18	5.4	Bright
19	5.5	Bright
20	5.5	Bright
21	5.6	Bright
22	5.7	Bright
23	5.7	Bright
24	5.8	Bright
25	5.8	Bright
26	5.9	Bright
27	5.9	Bright
28	5.9	Bright
29	6.0	Bright
30	6.0	Intense
31	6.0	Intense

Planning a trip in October

Is October a good time to visit Christchurch?

Our two travel scores rate October for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

4.1

Sightseeing

7th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

7th-best month of the year

October is a reasonable time to visit Christchurch for sightseeing.

What to pack for Christchurch in October

From October's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In October, Christchurch sees daytime highs around 14°C and nights near 9°C. Worth packing: a warm layer, rain gear and sun protection. About 9 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gearsun protection

Sea temperature near Christchurch in October

The nearest coast averages about 12°C in October — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 22 km away) is warmest in February at about 17°C and coldest in August near 9°C.

The water stays below 20°C all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	17	17	16	14	13	11	10	9	10	12	14	15
Comfort	Cool	Cool	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Cool

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	17	Cool
Feb	17	Cool
Mar	16	Cool
Apr	14	Bracing
May	13	Bracing
Jun	11	Bracing
Jul	10	Bracing
Aug	9	Bracing
Sep	10	Bracing
Oct	12	Bracing
Nov	14	Bracing
Dec	15	Cool

UV index in Christchurch in October

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in October peaks around 6 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Christchurch peaks around January 15 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 17 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	11	10	6	3	2	1	2	2	4	6	8	10
Level	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Very high

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	11	Extreme
Feb	10	Very high
Mar	6	High
Apr	3	Moderate
May	2	Low
Jun	1	Low
Jul	2	Low
Aug	2	Moderate
Sep	4	Moderate
Oct	6	High
Nov	8	Very high
Dec	10	Very high

Air quality in Christchurch in October

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where October falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Christchurch is worst in February — around 17 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.5× the cleanest month (May, 7 µg/m³).

Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Christchurch's WHO annual average of 10.2 µg/m³.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	10	17	14	8	7	7	9	10	11	10	10	10
Level	Good	Moderate	Moderate	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	10	Good
Feb	17	Moderate
Mar	14	Moderate
Apr	8	Good
May	7	Good
Jun	7	Good
Jul	9	Good
Aug	10	Good
Sep	11	Good
Oct	10	Good
Nov	10	Good
Dec	10	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Christchurch?

Christchurch sits at 43.5°S, 172.6°E, 14 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Rolleston, 21 km away.

Topography around Christchurch

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Christchurch.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Christchurch has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 26 m around an average of 10 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 547 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,955 m.

The land around Christchurch is covered by artificial surfaces (74%) within 3 km, grassland (33%) and water (22%) within 16 km, and water (43%) and grassland (34%) within 80 km.

3 km

26 m

artificial surfaces 74%

16 km

547 m

grassland 33%

80 km

1,955 m

water 43%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

← September Christchurch year-round climate November →Best places to visit in October

October weather nearby: Rolleston 21 km · Rangiora 26 km · Ashburton 83 km · Timaru 146 km · Kaikoura 151 km · Tekapo 181 km · Franz Josef 198 km · Richmond 249 km

New Zealand travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 1; Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs: Type I; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 86% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $49,591; 2025
Happiness: 7.0 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 100%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 1.5; per 100k, 2022
Road deaths: 9.6; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
Religion

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Christchurch (-43.5333°, 172.6333°, elevation 14 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	13	8
2	13	8
3	13	8
4	13	8
5	13	8
6	13	8
7	13	8
8	13	8
9	13	8
10	13	8
11	13	8
12	13	8
13	14	8
14	14	8
15	14	8
16	14	8
17	14	9
18	14	9
19	14	9
20	14	9
21	14	9
22	14	9
23	14	9
24	14	9
25	14	9
26	14	9
27	15	9
28	15	9
29	15	9
30	15	9
31	15	10

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	49	51
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	46	54
5	47	53
6	46	54
7	46	54
8	44	56
9	45	55
10	44	56
11	45	55
12	45	55
13	46	54
14	48	52
15	49	51
16	50	50
17	51	49
18	52	48
19	52	48
20	53	47
21	53	47
22	54	46
23	54	46
24	54	46
25	54	46
26	55	45
27	55	45
28	54	46
29	54	46
30	54	46
31	53	47

	Rain chance (%)
1	31
2	31
3	32
4	32
5	32
6	32
7	32
8	32
9	32
10	32
11	32
12	32
13	31
14	31
15	30
16	30
17	29
18	29
19	29
20	28
21	28
22	28
23	28
24	28
25	28
26	28
27	29
28	29
29	29
30	29
31	29

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	13	8
2	13	8
3	13	8
4	13	8
5	13	8
6	13	8
7	13	8
8	13	8
9	13	8
10	13	8
11	13	8
12	13	8
13	14	8
14	14	8
15	14	8
16	14	8
17	14	9
18	14	9
19	14	9
20	14	9
21	14	9
22	14	9
23	14	9
24	14	9
25	14	9
26	14	9
27	15	9
28	15	9
29	15	9
30	15	9
31	15	10

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	49	51
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	46	54
5	47	53
6	46	54
7	46	54
8	44	56
9	45	55
10	44	56
11	45	55
12	45	55
13	46	54
14	48	52
15	49	51
16	50	50
17	51	49
18	52	48
19	52	48
20	53	47
21	53	47
22	54	46
23	54	46
24	54	46
25	54	46
26	55	45
27	55	45
28	54	46
29	54	46
30	54	46
31	53	47

	Rain chance (%)
1	31
2	31
3	32
4	32
5	32
6	32
7	32
8	32
9	32
10	32
11	32
12	32
13	31
14	31
15	30
16	30
17	29
18	29
19	29
20	28
21	28
22	28
23	28
24	28
25	28
26	28
27	29
28	29
29	29
30	29
31	29

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	13	8
2	13	8
3	13	8
4	13	8
5	13	8
6	13	8
7	13	8
8	13	8
9	13	8
10	13	8
11	13	8
12	13	8
13	14	8
14	14	8
15	14	8
16	14	8
17	14	9
18	14	9
19	14	9
20	14	9
21	14	9
22	14	9
23	14	9
24	14	9
25	14	9
26	14	9
27	15	9
28	15	9
29	15	9
30	15	9
31	15	10

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	49	51
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	46	54
5	47	53
6	46	54
7	46	54
8	44	56
9	45	55
10	44	56
11	45	55
12	45	55
13	46	54
14	48	52
15	49	51
16	50	50
17	51	49
18	52	48
19	52	48
20	53	47
21	53	47
22	54	46
23	54	46
24	54	46
25	54	46
26	55	45
27	55	45
28	54	46
29	54	46
30	54	46
31	53	47

	Rain chance (%)
1	31
2	31
3	32
4	32
5	32
6	32
7	32
8	32
9	32
10	32
11	32
12	32
13	31
14	31
15	30
16	30
17	29
18	29
19	29
20	28
21	28
22	28
23	28
24	28
25	28
26	28
27	29
28	29
29	29
30	29
31	29

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100