Weather alert: South Africa braces for severe thunderstorms and extreme heat on Sunday

There's potentially dangerous conditions across several provinces.


South Africa will experience a mix of severe thunderstorms, heavy rain, and extreme heat on Sunday, 11 January 2026.

The South African Weather Service (Saws) has also warned of potentially dangerous conditions across several provinces.

Residents are being urged to take precautions as the weather is expected to cause flooding, damage to infrastructure, and life-threatening situations in vulnerable areas.

Weather warnings

Severe weather alerts have been issued for multiple areas.

An orange level six warning has been issued for the lowveld and escarpment areas of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, where continuous heavy rain is expected to cause flooding.

Damage to roads and infrastructure, as well as pose risks to life, particularly near fast-flowing streams and deep water, is anticipated as a result of the flooding.

The warning is expected to persist into Monday.

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In the extreme north-east of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), an orange level five warning has been issued for the region on Sunday, with severe thunderstorms expected.

Parts of north-eastern KZN are under a yellow level four warning for Sunday.

A yellow level two warning was issued for the eastern highveld regions of Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

This warning is also expected to continue into Monday.

Meanwhile, extremely high fire danger conditions are forecast for the southern parts of the Sarah Baartman district and Nelson Mandela Municipality in the Eastern Cape, large areas of the Northern Cape, and the northern and central regions of the Western Cape.

Advisories

Most areas of the Western and Northern Cape can expect very hot to extremely hot and uncomfortable conditions, with the exception of the Western Cape’s south coast and the Richtersveld municipality in the Northern Cape.

Provincial weather forecast:

Across the provinces, weather conditions will vary. Here’s what to expect in your province on Sunday, 11 January 2026.

Gauteng:

In Gauteng, residents can expect a partly cloudy in the morning, turning mostly cloudy and warm during the day.

The extreme north will experience hot conditions, in addition to a low UVB sunburn index.

Mpumalanga:

Morning fog along the escarpment, with cloudy skies and cool to warm temperatures in Mpumalanga.

Scattered to widespread showers and thundershowers are expected, except for isolated areas in the extreme west.

Limpopo:

Limpopo will have morning fog in the south-east, otherwise cloudy and cool to warm.

Isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers are expected over the central and eastern parts, with widespread activity over the lowveld and escarpment.

North-West:

The morning will be mostly fine in Limpopo, becoming partly cloudy and warm to hot.

Isolated afternoon showers and thundershowers are expected in the eastern parts.

Free State:

Morning fog in the eastern areas, with isolated afternoon showers and thundershowers.

The rest of the province will be partly cloudy and warm to hot.

Northern Cape:

Coastal areas will experience fog in the morning and evening, but otherwise it will be fine and hot to very hot.

Eastern and central regions will see some afternoon clouds, while winds along the coast will remain light and variable.

Western Cape:

The Western Cape can expect partly cloudy along the south coast, otherwise fine and warm to hot, with very hot conditions in some areas.

Coastal winds will be light to moderate, westerly to north-westerly along the north-west coast, and fresh southerly to south-easterly along the south-west.

The UVB sunburn risk is very high.

Eastern Cape (western half):

In the western half of the Eastern Cape, Morning fog is expected in parts of the southern interior and along the coast in the evening.

The rest of the province will be fine and warm, with hot to very hot conditions inland. Coastal winds will be moderate to fresh easterly.

Eastern Cape (eastern half):

The eastern half of the province will see morning fog in some interior and coastal areas.

The day will be warm and hot inland, turning partly cloudy in the afternoon with isolated thunderstorms over the north-eastern escarpment.

Coastal winds will be moderate to fresh from the north-east.

KZN

KZN could experience morning fog patches over the interior, while the rest of the province will be cloudy and warm.

Showers and thundershowers will be isolated to scattered, becoming widespread in the north.

Coastal winds will be moderate easterly to south-easterly in the morning north of Mtunzini, then moderate to fresh northerly to north-easterly later.

The UVB sunburn risk is moderate.

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