Overview
- The South African Weather Service issued an Orange Level 5 warning for central and southern KwaZulu‑Natal, forecasting 30–80 mm of rain in under 48 hours that could cause life‑threatening flash floods and damage to roads, bridges and settlements.
- SAWS kept multiple Yellow warnings in force for severe thunderstorms over Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and neighbouring areas that can produce heavy downpours, large hail, damaging straight‑line winds and excessive lightning.
- Severe Sunday afternoon storms battered Johannesburg, prompting Joburg Emergency Management Services to place all seven regions on high alert while reporting no major incidents so far and urging people to avoid crossing flooded roads and low‑lying bridges.
- Meteorologists link the pattern to El Niño‑heightened humidity plus a surface high and an upper‑air trough that stores moisture and, with daytime heating, spawns rapid heat‑induced convective storms able to intensify quickly.
- Forecasts now point to a sharp rise to extreme midweek heat in Gauteng with temperatures around the mid‑30s Celsius and ongoing extremely high to red‑level fire danger in parts of the Northern Cape and Western Cape, raising risks of wildfires and service disruptions.