If you want to develop your listening skills, try these tasks as you listen to the text. The answers are at the bottom of this page. Thanks to Natasha Groves for preparing the tasks.
If you want to listen and read, just scroll down to the News story.
Use the vocabulary list to check the meanings of some words before you listen.
Vocabulary
mountain range – a group of mountains, usually in a line
equinox – a time when day and night are of equal length
gale – a very strong wind
front – in this context, a technical weather term, meaning the place where two areas of air of different temperatures meet. This is often shown as a line on weather maps
forecaster – a person who says what is expected to happen, especially someone whose job is to predict the weather
tropical – coming from or existing in the warm parts of the world near the equator
Try these activities while listening
1. Listening for main ideas
First, just listen to the text, taking notes if you wish. What information can you catch during this first listening?
2. Now listen again and answer the following questions:
- What was the weather like over the weekend?
- What is spring like here? Why?
- What often happens after 23 September?
- What happens to spring gales and storms by November?
- What was the nationwide average temperature this winter?
- What was the highest temperature?
- Where was rainfall below normal?
- What causes an El Niño weather pattern?
- What are the effects of an El Niño?
News story
It is now the school holidays for the next two weeks in New Zealand. Unfortunately for families going on holiday, the weather was particularly bad in the weekend, with heavy rain and strong winds for much of the country, and even snow in the South Island. However, this is not expected to last long.
Spring weather is very changeable here. This is because New Zealand is a long, narrow country, surrounded by sea, with a mountain range running down the middle of the South Island. After the spring equinox on 23 September, there are often strong winds which rise to gale force as they go over the mountains and the sea. Cold weather fronts still occur in spring, but they usually move quickly up the country. By November, however, spring gales and storms become less common.
According to Earth Sciences New Zealand, winter 2026 was the third warmest since records began. The nationwide average temperature was 9.7 degrees, 1.1 degrees above the 1991-2020 winter average. This may be surprising as there were some very cold weeks in August, but June was very warm nationwide, and the whole winter was relatively warm throughout the South Island. The highest temperature was 26 degrees at Bromley, near Christchurch, on 20 June. This winter was also wetter than normal in the South Island, especially in Southland, Otago, southern and inland parts of Canterbury, and the West Coast. In contrast, rainfall was below normal for large parts of the North Island. Auckland recorded just 68 percent of its usual rainfall and had the highest number of winter sunshine hours on record.
Weather forecasters have noted that a very strong El Niño weather pattern is developing this year. This is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon centred on the tropical Pacific Ocean. During an El Niño, sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific become warmer than average. These lead to changes in air pressure, winds, cloud cover, and rainfall patterns. El Niño typically brings drier, windier conditions for eastern and northern areas of both islands, and wetter than usual conditions for the western and lower South Island.
Answers – you don’t have to write a complete sentence as long as you have the key idea in your answer.
a. What was the weather like over the weekend?
It was particularly bad, with heavy rain and strong winds for much of the country, and even snow in the South Island
b. What is spring like here? Why?
It is very changeable; New Zealand is a long, narrow country, surrounded by sea, with a mountain range running down the middle of the South Island
c. What often happens after 23 September?
There are often strong winds which rise to gale force as they go over the mountains and the sea
d. What happens to spring gales and storms by November?
They become less common
e. What was the nationwide average temperature this winter?
9.7 degrees
f. What was the highest temperature?
26 degrees
g. Where was rainfall below normal?
In large parts of the North Island
h. What causes an El Niño weather pattern?
Sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific become warmer than average
i. What are the effects of an El Niño?
Changes in air pressure, winds, cloud cover, and rainfall patterns; drier, windier conditions for eastern and northern areas of both islands; wetter than usual conditions for the western and lower South Island.