Southern New Brunswick has experienced a lot of mostly cloudy and overcast days so far this winter – and not much sunshine.

Environment Canada meteorologist Jill Maepea said a lack of cold air is behind the lack of sunshine.

“We haven’t had our normal outbreaks of Arctic air that move into the region and that usually provides us with lots of sunny skies and cold, dry air,” noted Maepea.

“We’re seeing a lot more clouds with the warmer temperatures which means that we have more moisture in the air as well.”

She said a shift to more normal winter temperatures is expected at the end of this month which may mean brighter skies too.

Maepea added the cloudy pattern this winter has been similar across Eastern Canada.

According to data from Environment Canada, January is typically the third least sunniest month of the year in southern New Brunswick after November and December.