The weather office said most of the country, including KZN, can expect rains over the coming days, with the risk of flash flooding.

“The central and eastern parts of the country have already seen flooding in recent days and weeks due to a lot of rain that has been experienced since the beginning of the summer rainfall season.

The ground in many of these places remains saturated and rivers and streams are running full. Under such conditions, a flash flood could be triggered quite easily, and the public is therefore strongly urged to be extra vigilant,” the South African Weather Service said in a statement released on Friday afternoon.

The weather office said the latest severe weather event will be due to a cut-off low (COL) pressure system, developing west of the country, and is expected to intensify from Saturday (December 10) as it moves closer.

“The system will influence weather patterns over most parts of the country during the next five days, resulting in scattered to widespread showers and thundershowers in places.

“Severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall are likely, starting from the Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday, spreading to the Free State on Sunday, and reaching North West, Gauteng and Mpumalanga by Monday. Other hazards associated with this system are hail and lightning.”

Furthermore, the South African Weather Service said the south-western coastal areas of the country are expected to experience strong south-easterly winds of between 50 to 70 km/h.

“Ordinarily south-easterly winds around the Cape Peninsula are associated with fair weather. However, with the presence of a cut-off low, there may be some thundershowers on Saturday and Sunday, leading to a phenomenon referred to as the ‘black south-easter’.”

Rough sea conditions are also expected around the south-western coast and could contribute to difficulty at navigation at sea.

People are also warned that there might also be localised disruptions to beach activities.

The Citizen/Witness