Weather alert: Severe thunderstorms and flooding over central and western SA until Sunday

South Africa's Weather Service (Saws) has issued a weather alert for scattered and widespread showers and thunderstorms across the central and western regions of the country from Friday until Sunday morning. Saturday's weather will be partly cloudy and warm to cool in the southwest, while it will be mostly cloudy with isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms over the central and western parts of South Africa, becoming widespread in some areas.

Impact-based warnings have been issued for Saturday, 26 September 2026, with yellow Level 2 warnings in place for severe thunderstorms. These storms may bring heavy downpours, strong damaging winds, hail, and excessive lightning, leading to localized flooding of vulnerable roads, low-lying areas, and bridges, as well as potential damage to settlements and infrastructure.

These warnings are expected over the Northern Cape, northern parts of the Western Cape, western parts of the Free State, extreme western parts of North West, and the extreme southern parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

Residents are urged to take necessary precautions against prolonged sun exposure due to the "very high" UVB sunburn index in various provinces.