Friday’s weather: Cold and wet day for Cape provinces while Gauteng and Limpopo stay fine and warm

South Africa will experience a cold and wet Friday, according to the South African Weather Service (Saws). The day will be partly cloudy and cool to warm across much of the country, with isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms, particularly in the central and southeastern regions. However, the Gauteng and Limpopo provinces will remain fine and warm.

Saws has issued impact-based warnings, including yellow level 4 and 2 warnings, due to the disruptive rainfall. This will lead to flooding of roads, settlements, low-lying areas, and bridges, as well as major disruptions to traffic flow in the eastern parts of the Overberg district, Garden Route, Langeberg, and Laingsburg municipalities in the Western Cape, and along the south coast and eastern parts of the Eastern Cape.

A yellow level 2 warning has been issued for severe thunderstorms in the western parts of the Free State, which may cause localised wind and hail damage, falling trees, and local fire incidents due to excessive lightning.

Additionally, Saws has issued two yellow level 4 warnings for damaging winds that could result in damage to temporary structures, settlements, transport routes, and travel services, as well as interruptions to power, communication, and other utilities. These warnings cover the Namakwa district in the Northern Cape, the Cape Winelands and Central Karoo districts in the Western Cape, and the western parts of the Western Cape and northern interior of the Eastern Cape.

Fire danger warnings have also been issued for extremely high fire danger conditions over the central parts of the country, including most parts of KwaZulu-Natal. There are advisories for cold to very cold, wet, and windy conditions in the Namakwa District of the Northern Cape and the interior of the Western Cape. The South African Weather Service is urging residents to take necessary precautions against prolonged sun exposure, especially in provinces like KwaZulu-Natal, where the UVB sunburn index is expected to be "very high".