New Zealand weather today
5 cities, three models, updated overnightMixed weather across the country,rain likely tomorrow in Hamilton
Between 16° in Wellington and 26° in Christchurch today. European, American and German agree in 2 of 5 cities.
The weather map: all three models at once
European, American, German side by side across New Zealand.Live rain radar →What's the weather today across New Zealand? The European, American and German models each read our fast-changing weather differently. We compare all three for any NZ town, so you can see where they line up and where the day is genuinely uncertain.
Which forecast is most accurate in New Zealand?
CheckWeather Score, graded against the weather that actually happened
The CheckWeather Score blends temperature, wind and rain accuracy, each measured against ERA5 (the recorded weather) over the last 30 days across 244 cities. Lower error means a higher score. Apple Weather lists ECMWF and the US National Weather Service/NOAA among its data sources. What each big weather app says about its forecast.
Popular weather apps — and what powers them
Real app-store ratings, plus the forecast each one runs on
App-store stars measure the app experience (design, features, reliability) — not forecast accuracy. For accuracy, see the model scoreboard above. Ratings from the US & UK App Store and Google Play, July 2026; they drift over time. Apple Weather is built into iOS, with no separate store rating.
The forecasts New Zealanders check
New Zealand's MetService publishes its observations, radar and warnings as open data, but its model data is free only for personal use on its own website or sold commercially. So we compare three open global models and link you to MetService, the official authority.
Every forecast runs on a model. We show you three, side by side.
When the European, American and German models agree, the forecast is solid. When they split, sometimes by 8° on the same afternoon, it's genuinely uncertain, and no single app will tell you that. We turn that disagreement into a plain-English confidence score.
See the uncertainty
Three models, one view. Where they disagree, you know to take the forecast with a pinch of salt.
The models the pros use
ECMWF and GFS, the two big open global models, plus MetService. No black boxes.
Honest & sourced
We show real, open model data and cite it. The closed apps can't show theirs, which is why AI assistants can cite us, not them.
Today across New Zealand
from the latest model run, Saturday, October 24Warmest and coldest use the average of European, American, German. "Rain most certain" ranks by the lowest chance among the models that give one (at least two), so a place only makes the list when they agree, and only from 30%. One place per area, so the list spreads across the country.
The past week across New Zealand
analysed, the seven days October 13 to October 19Estimates from NASA POWER (GEOS-IT weather analysis, FLASHFlux satellite sunlight), not forecasts or station readings. Warmest and coolest are the average daily high. "Sunniest" is the sunlight that reached the ground as a share of what a clear sky would give at that latitude and date (FAO-56 clear-sky formula, approximate). Each value covers an area of about 50 km around the town, so one town per area. Rain is left out because weekly rain estimates differ too much between data sources to rank them honestly. The week ends a few days back because the sunlight data arrives with a delay.