WEATHER: Widespread rain and Level 5 thunderstorm warning for five provinces

Get daily updates on temperatures, winds and UVB levels, and see what the SA Weather Service predicts for the country.

Here’s the weather outlook for South Africa’s nine provinces.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has issued Level 5 and Level 2 warnings for severe storms, including heavy rain and strong winds across five provinces this weekend.

SEVERE WEATHER ALERTS

IMPACT-BASED WARNINGS

A. Orange Level 5 warning: Severe thunderstorms leading to flooding of susceptible roads, settlements, low-lying bridges/areas and damage to infrastructure due to heavy downpours and strong damaging winds, are expected over the eastern parts of the Free State, eastern parts of the North West, Gauteng, western parts of Limpopo as well as the Highveld of Mpumalanga.

B. Yellow Level 2 warning: Severe thunderstorms leading to localized flooding of susceptible roads, settlements, low lying bridges/areas and localized damage to infrastructure due to heavy downpours and strong damaging winds are expected over the extreme north-eastern parts of the Northern Cape, western parts of both the Free State and North West, the western parts of KwaZulu-Natal as well as along the escarpment of both Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

FIRE DANGER WARNINGS

Extremely high fire danger conditions are expected over the Dawid Kruiper and Kai Garib municipalities of the Northern Cape as well as the West Coast district of the Western Cape.

ADVISORIES

NIL

Weather conditions and UVB forecast in South Africa’s provinces

Gauteng

Gauteng can expect cloudy and warm with widespread showers and thundershowers.

The expected UVB Sunburn Index is Low

Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga, the Place of the Rising Sun, can expect cloudy and cool to warm with scattered to widespread showers and thundershowers, but isolated in the Lowveld.

Limpopo

In Limpopo, morning fog patches along the escarpment, otherwise cloudy and warm to hot with isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers, but widespread in the south-west.

North West

North West, known as Bokone Bophirima in Setswana, can expect fog patches in the east at first, otherwise cloudy, windy and warm to hot, with widespread showers and thundershowers, but scattered in the extreme west.

Free State

In Free State, fog patches in the east at first, otherwise cloudy, windy and cool to warm, with widespread showers and thundershowers, but isolated to scattered in the west.

Northern Cape

The day will start with morning fog along the coast, otherwise partly cloudy, windy and warm to hot, with isolated showers and thundershowers, but scattered in the extreme east where it will be cloudy. It will be very hot in the extreme north. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh southerly to south-easterly.

Western Cape

Fine in the west, otherwise partly cloudy and warm to hot but cloudy and cool along the south coast with isolated morning showers and rain. It will be very hot in places in the west. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh southerly to south-easterly but strong along the south-west and west coast.

The expected UVB sunburn index is Very High

Eastern Cape

The Western half: Cloudy with morning showers along the coast and adjacent interior, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated thundershowers in places over the interior by late afternoon. The wind along the coast will be light south-westerly, becoming south-easterly in the afternoon.

The Eastern half: The day will start cloudy with morning fog south of the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and warm but cool in the east with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the north-east. The wind along the coast will be light and variable.

KwaZulu-Natal

Morning fog patches in places over the interior, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the west. The wind along the coast will be moderate southerly to south westerly in the morning, otherwise moderate easterly to south-easterly becoming light north-easterly in the south in the evening.

The expected UVB Sunburn Index is High

Forecast data provided by the South African Weather Service.