‘Like a seagull in a stiff breeze’: what it’s like flying into Wellington, the world’s windiest city

A southerly front approaches Wellington's south coast as a plane comes in to land. The New Zealand capital is the world’s windiest city. Photograph: Dave Allan

It had been a smooth late-July flight from Auckland, until the plane started its descent into Wellington. Then the bumps and swaying began.

“The more we went down, the rockier it got,” says Laura, a Wellington resident who wished to give her first name only. “There was one point where we must have got a horrible cross-wind and it felt like the plane was about to flip over. At that point, the entire flight screamed.”