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Temperatures in Gauteng are expected to drop below freezing this week
It’s going to get colder in Gauteng. Photo: iStock
Gauteng residents have been urged to double their blankets ahead of a cold front expected to hit the province this week.
Temperatures in Gauteng are expected to drop below the freezing mark as the cold weather grips most parts of the country.
Freezing weather
Gauteng Weather has forecast the mercury for Johannesburg on Friday to drop to -2°C, reaching a high of 11°C.
Pretoria is forecast to have a temperature of 0°C, with a high of 13°C.
The country experienced a winter solstice on Saturday, with the longest night and shortest day in the southern hemisphere. The sun rose at 6:53am and set at 5:25pm.
The cold weather is a stark reminder that winter has arrived, signalling that South Africans should keep warm.
ALSO READ: Chilly weather expected for most parts of South Africa
Emergency services
As the weather in Gauteng gets colder, emergency services are also on high alert to deal with any incident that may occur.
The drop in temperatures means that residents throughout the City of Johannesburg will be forced to use all sorts of heating devices to try to warm themselves. This can make them vulnerable to fire incidents at home if heating devices are used unsafely or unattended.
Residents have been urged to use all heating devices safely, including heaters, braziers, paraffin stoves and candles, and not to leave them unattended while in use to prevent fire incidents at home during the extremely cold weather.
For any life-threatening emergencies, residents are urged to call the Emergency Services Call Centre on 011 375 5911.
Intense cold front
Meanwhile, the South African Weather Services (Saws) has warned of an intense cold front expected to affect the Western and Northern Cape provinces from Wednesday until Friday.
“The public and small stock farmers are advised that very cold, wet and windy conditions with heavy rainfall, strong interior winds and gale force coastal winds, very rough to high seas and light snowfall on the high ground can be expected”, Saws said.
Warnings
Saws also issued a Yellow level 2 warning for damaging waves resulting in difficulty in navigation with small vessels at risk of taking on water and capsizing within the locality, and localised disruption to ports/harbours between Plettenberg Bay and East London.
A Yellow level 1 warning was also issued for damaging winds that caused small vessels to have difficulty navigating, take on water, and drag anchors between Plettenberg Bay and Port Alfred.
ALSO READ: Eskom winter outlook: Here’s how many days of load shedding to expect in SA
