Middlemarch had the dubious honour of recording New Zealand's lowest autumn temperature of -7.4degC on the second to last day of the season.
Autumn was a wet season for the eastern South Island near Dunedin, with well above normal rainfall recorded in many places, Niwa's seasonal climate summary said.
''As of June 1, soils were wetter than normal throughout eastern South Island, the Southern Lakes and Central Otago.''
Autumn sunshine levels in the South Island were below normal, or near normal, across the island.
That was highlighted by Dunedin's autumn weather figures which showed it to be the coolest and cloudiest of the country's main centres, the summary said.
The city's mean temperature was 11.9degC, just 0.1degC less than Christchurch, and it recorded 391 hours of sunshine, 103% of normal, compared with Christchurch's 414 hours (83% normal).
Dunedin also received 152% of its normal autumn rainfall of 273mm, compared with Christchurch, which received more than double its normal rainfall, recording 323mm.
