Overview
- The South African Weather Service has issued yellow Level 4 warnings for severe thunderstorms on Thursday, 5 November, covering Gauteng, the Mpumalanga Highveld, central‑southern Limpopo, eastern Free State, parts of North West and much of KwaZulu‑Natal.
- SAWS says Level 4 storms may bring heavy rain, flash flooding, large amounts of small hail, excessive lightning and damaging winds that could cause local damage to homes and temporary structures and disrupt power and communications.
- Yellow Level 2 warnings apply to nearby areas including southern Limpopo, the Mpumalanga escarpment, central and western parts of North West and Free State, and the northern interior of the Eastern Cape for similar but lesser storm risk.
- Separately, extremely high fire‑danger alerts and very high UV indices are in effect for wide swathes of the country, including the Northern Cape, parts of the Western and Eastern Cape interior, western Free State and selected areas of Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West, with eastern KwaZulu‑Natal expected to be hot and humid.
- These reports are forecasts for 5 November rather than damage assessments, and residents are urged to monitor SAWS updates, move vehicles from low‑lying areas, secure outdoor items, avoid open fires and protect themselves from sun exposure.