The long and short of it

Golfers cast long shadows on the green at the Otago Golf Club, in Balmacewen, yesterday, during the shortest day of the year.

Dunedin’s sunlight hours bottomed out yesterday with precisely eight hours and 42 minutes of sunlight.

MetService meteorologist Andrew James said the days would slowly start to get longer but the coldest part of winter was still to come.

"The coldest temperatures in winter come in July and August, and then come September in spring we’ll start to see things warming up."

The number of sunlight hours would incrementally increase, reaching their fastest rate of increase at the equinox in late September. Daylight saving time will begin on September 24.