As summer has its final say, Sizzle City is expected to live up to its name today (Monday), with temperatures in Richards Bay and Empangeni in the mid-30s Celsius.

But the heatwave will be short-lived as a cut-off low (COL) moving across South Africa from the west is expected to bring major disruptions to the weather.

ALSO READ: Above average winter rainfall expected for Zululand region

As a result, parts of KwaZulu-Natal are subjected to thunderstorm-related weather warnings, as issued by the South African Weather Service.

As published by the Severe Weather and Information Centre South Africa (SwaicSA) Facebook page on Sunday, while the main focus is on the southern parts of the country, which will be most affected, the leading side of the cut-off low is expected to affect eastern parts of the country.

“The leading side of an intense COL is typically associated with instability and strong uplift, which can result in severe convective activity,” says SwaicSA.

The page went on to say that severe thunderstorms are possible from today (Monday) into Wednesday morning in parts of the country, including KZN.

These storms may be accompanied by heavy downpours, lightning and damaging winds.

At this stage, the SAWS level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms covers south-western parts of the province, but Accuweather forecasts thunderstorms and rain for parts of the Zululand region on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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