Level 6 warning: Gauteng residents warned to brace for disruptive rain

Emergency services will be on high alert this weekend following warnings from the South African Weather Service (SAWS) for severe weather in several provinces.

Impact-based weather warnings:

• A yellow level 2 warning has been issued for severe thunderstorms with hail, damaging winds and heavy downpours over the interior of the Eastern Cape, the eastern parts of the Northern Cape and the western parts of both the Free State and North West.
• An orange level 5 warning for severe thunderstorms with heavy downpours over the northern interior of the Eastern Cape.
• An orange level 6 warning has been issued for disruptive rain over Gauteng and the central and
  eastern parts of both the Free State and North-West.
• A yellow level 4 warning for disruptive rain over the western Highveld of Mpumalanga and the Western Bushveld of Limpopo.
• A yellow level 2 warning for disruptive rain over the central and eastern Highveld of Mpumalanga and the central parts of Limpopo.
• Extremely high fire danger conditions are expected over the Laingsburg Municipality of the Western Cape.

Saturday’s weather forecast

Gauteng: Cloudy and cool with widespread showers and thundershowers. It will be cold in the south. The expected UVB sunburn index: Low.

Mpumalanga: Cloudy and cool with scattered to widespread showers and thundershowers but isolated in the extreme east.

Limpopo: Warm in the east, otherwise cloudy and cool with scattered to widespread showers and thundershowers, but isolated in the east.

North West: Cloudy and cool to warm with scattered showers and thundershowers but widespread in the east.

Free State: Cloudy and cool to warm with scattered to widespread showers and thundershowers.

Northern Cape: Cloudy to partly cloudy and cool to warm with drizzle in the south-west and isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers in the east. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate north-westerly.

Western Cape: Cloudy to partly cloudy and cool to warm with drizzle along the west coast until the afternoon and light rain over the western parts of the Western Cape in the evening. Isolated thundershowers are expected over the extreme eastern parts.

The wind along the coast will be light to moderate south-easterly in the south, becoming fresh to strong south-westerly towards the afternoon, otherwise moderate to fresh north-westerly. The expected UVB sunburn index: Very High.

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Western half of the Eastern Cape: Cloudy and warm with scattered showers and thundershowers from late morning. It will be hot in places over the interior. The wind along the coast will be light north-easterly, becoming strong southwesterly from midday.

Eastern half of the Eastern Cape: Cloudy and warm with scattered showers and thundershowers from the afternoon. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh north-easterly, becoming light south-westerly overnight.

KwaZulu-Natal: Morning fog over the interior, otherwise partly cloudy and warm becoming cloudy in the afternoon with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the west. The wind along the coast will be moderate easterly to north-easterly, becoming fresh in the afternoon. The expected UVB sunburn index: High.