Level 2 warning: Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain in six provinces

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has issued a yellow level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms causing heavy rain, large amounts of small hail, strong damaging winds and excessive lightning on Monday.

The weather patterns will affect the North West, Gauteng, Highveld of Mpumalanga and eastern and central parts of Free state as well as most of Kwa-Zulu Natal and the south western parts of Limpopo.

Residents in these areas should watch out for flooding, warned the weather service.

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The weather service expects extremely high fire danger conditions in the southern parts of the ZF Mgcawu and the western parts of the Pixey Ka Seme District Municipalities in the Northern Cape, the Limpopo Valley and the southern parts of the Limpopo Lowveld.

This as a heatwave continues to ravage the north-western and north-eastern parts of KwaZulu-Natal until Wednesday.

Monday’s weather forecast

Gauteng: Partly cloudy and warm to hot weather with scattered showers and thundershowers. The expected UVB sunburn index: Low.

Mpumalanga: Partly cloudy and warm to hot weather with isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers, except in the north-east. It will be very hot to extremely hot in the Lowveld.

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Limpopo: Partly cloudy and hot to very with isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers in the south-west. It will be extremely hot over the southern Lowveld.

North West: Partly cloudy windy and hot weather, with scattered showers and thundershowers.

Free State: Partly cloudy windy and hot, with scattered showers and thundershowers but isolated in the south.

Coastal provinces

Northern Cape: Fine, windy, and hot to very hot weather, becoming partly cloudy with isolated showers and thundershowers over the eastern parts. It will be warm in west. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south to south-easterly.

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Western Cape: Cloudy in the south-west, otherwise partly cloudy and cool to warm, except in the north-eastern parts. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate southerly south-westerly, becoming fresh to strong from the evening along the south coast. The expected UVB sunburn index: Very High.

Western half of the Eastern Cape: Cloudy with morning showers and rain, except in the extreme north-west, otherwise partly cloudy and warm, but cool in places along the coast. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh south-westerly.

Eastern half of the Eastern Cape: Partly cloudy and warm to hot weather in the north, otherwise cloudy and cool with scattered showers and rain. Scattered thundershowers are expected in the north moving south of escarpment in the afternoon. The wind along the coast will be Light to moderate south-easterly.

KwaZulu-Natal: Partly cloudy to cloudy and cool to warm but hot weather in places in the north-west with scattered showers and thundershowers but isolated in the extreme north-east.

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The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh northerly in the north at first, otherwise moderate to fresh southerly to south-westerly, becoming easterly to south-easterly from late morning but north-easterly south of Mtunzini by the evening. The expected UVB sunburn index: Very High.