The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned of a heatwave in the northern and eastern parts of the country. The extreme temperatures, varying from province to province, are expected to subside on Monday.
According to SAWS forecaster Tokelo Chiloane, the highest temperature recorded on Saturday was in the Skukuza area in Mpumalanga where the mercury rose to 41ºC.
“The heat threshold is different for every province. In Gauteng we saw 35ºC in Pretoria, Johannesburg was 32ºC, while the highest was Hammanskraal with 38ºC.
“In North West the highest was 40ºC, in Limpopo Bela Bela was on 39ºC and 38ºC in Lephalale,” said Chiloane.
She said the temperatures are expected to drop on Monday, while in some parts it could only be on Tuesday.
On its website, the SAWS warned of the danger of fires as the heat rages.
“Extremely high fire danger conditions are expected over the Central Karoo of the Western Cape, east and central parts of the Northern Cape, western and central parts of the Free State, in places over the Eastern Cape, eastern parts of the North West, Gauteng, Limpopo, in places over Mpumalanga as well as the western and central parts of KwaZulu- Natal,” reads the alert.
In the Western Cape morning fog patches were recorded in the southwest and extreme southeastern parts, otherwise it is expected partly cloudy and cool to warm but fine over the eastern interior.
“It will become cloudy in the southwest from the late afternoon with light rain and showers, spreading to the southeast in the evening. The wind along the coast will be light northwesterly in the southwest in the morning otherwise moderate to fresh westerly to southwesterly reaching strong in the southwest at times from the afternoon,” the weather service warned.
The expected UVB sunburn is very high.
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