What you need to do now: check with local authorities for updates, avoid driving through flooded roads, secure loose objects outdoors, and keep clear of damaged trees and power lines.
Nationwide warnings and where they apply
The South African Weather Service has issued a set of impact-based warnings for this week, highlighting the risk of heavy thunderstorms with hail, lightning, strong gusty winds, and flooding in parts of the country.
Key alerts include an Orange Level 5 warning for the central parts of the Northern Cape and several Yellow level warnings affecting neighbouring provinces and coastal areas.
- Orange (Level 5): Severe thunderstorms with likely flooding of susceptible settlements and roads, strong gusty winds, hail damage to structures, falling trees, municipal service outages and excessive lightning activity over central Northern Cape.
- Yellow (Level 4): Severe thunderstorms with localized flooding, strong gusty winds and hail in central and eastern Northern Cape and extreme western parts of North-West.
- Yellow (Level 2): Severe thunderstorms causing localized wind and hail damage to structures and falling trees, and local fire incidents due to excessive lightning over Free State and most parts of North-West.
- Yellow (Level 2) — Marine/Coastal: Damaging wind and waves creating disruption to ports and navigation from Richards Bay to Kosi Bay, and separately from Cape Town to Cape Agulhas.
| Warning level | Primary hazards | Areas affected |
|---|---|---|
| Orange (5) | Severe thunderstorms, flooding, hail, strong winds, lightning | Central Northern Cape |
| Yellow (4) | Localized flooding, hail, strong winds, lightning | Central & eastern Northern Cape; extreme western North-West |
| Yellow (2) | Wind and hail damage, falling trees, local fires from lightning | Free State; most parts of North-West |
| Yellow (2) — coastal | Damaging wind and waves; danger to navigation | Richards Bay to Kosi Bay; Cape Town to Cape Agulhas |
Regional notes
Provincial forecasts issued alongside the warnings give a sense of varied conditions around the country. The Weather Service indicates:
- Gauteng: cloudy and cool with scattered showers and thundershowers; the UVB sunburn index is expected to be high.
- Mpumalanga: morning fog along the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to cold with isolated showers and thundershowers; cloudier conditions in the east.
- Limpopo: morning fog along the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and thundershowers, especially in the southwest; cloudy conditions in the east.
These regional notes form part of the broader alert picture and underline that, while the most severe warnings are centred on the Northern Cape and parts of North-West and Free State, unsettled weather could produce thunderstorms and brief severe conditions in other provinces.
Safety and preparedness
Practical steps to reduce risk during severe thunderstorms and damaging winds:
- Keep clear of downed power lines and report outages to your municipality or the relevant service provider.
- Avoid travelling through flooded roads; turn around, don’t drown.
- Secure garden furniture, signage and other loose items that can become projectiles in strong gusts.
- Stay indoors during lightning storms; unplug sensitive electrical equipment if possible.
- Follow updates from the South African Weather Service and local emergency services for changes to warnings and safety advice.
The Weather Service emphasises that these are impact-based warnings, meaning the focus is on likely effects to communities, infrastructure and services. People in the areas named should take the warnings seriously and prepare accordingly.
Monitor official channels for real-time updates and heed instructions from local authorities and emergency services should conditions deteriorate.
