A powerful winter storm is sweeping across South Africa, bringing bitter cold, snow and flooding to several provinces. The Eastern Cape is hardest hit, with an Orange Level 9 warning issued for severe disruptive rain.

A powerful winter storm has swept across much of South Africa, bringing bitter cold, heavy rain, and snow to several provinces. The Eastern Cape is bearing the brunt, with the South African Weather Service (Saws) warning of a high risk of severe flooding, dangerous travel conditions, and closed roads.

What’s behind the severe weather? The culprit is a “cut-off low” — a weather system where very cold air becomes trapped and spins above the country, separated from the usual westerly winds.

Meteorologist Annette Botha from Vox Weather explains that this system is unusually deep, stretching from the upper atmosphere all the way to the ground — a setup more common in winter, and one that brings especially intense cold, rain, and snow.

Snow is expected across most provinces, with icy temperatures, strong winds and heavy rain forecast this coming weekend, until the middle of next week.

South Africa (SA) is in for a weekend of extreme winter weather, with most provinces facing bitterly cold conditions, gusty winds, and the possibility of snow, except Limpopo.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned that a particularly intense cut-off low system will begin affecting the Western and Northern Cape early on Saturday, 7 June, before sweeping eastward to impact the central and eastern provinces by Monday. SAWS warns the system is likely to persist over the eastern regions until at least midweek.

Farmers, visitors and vendors alike can breathe a sigh of relief as perfect weather conditions are predicted for Nampo, taking place in Bothaville, Free State, from 13 to 16 May.

While grain farmers struggled to start the harvest season due to excessive rain and Nampo personnel lamented a rain-soaked terrain, drier, warmer conditions have prevailed over the last week.

Vox Weather meteorologist Michelle Cordier told Farmer’s Weekly that there was no reason farmers needed to miss Nampo in order to catch up on harvesting since these conditions were expected to last.

A cold front is expected to move over the country this weekend, but by Tuesday clear skies are expected, with maximum temperatures expected to range between 18°C and 24°C.

Cordier said that this was around 4°C cooler than last year, which offered up a notably warmer Nampo than usual.

The ‘biggest danger’ associated with this cold front will be the strong to gale North Westerly winds expected across the Cape Metro, says meteorologist Michelle du Plessis.

CapeTalk’s Lester Kiewit speaks to Vox Weather Meteorologist Michelle du Plessis.

Vandag is die eerste Maandag van Mei, en in sekere dele van die land was dit al snerpend koud aan die begin van die winter. In Johannesburg was dit oornag 8 grade Celsius en daar is nog vier maande van koue nagte wat voorlê.

Annette Botha is ‘n metereoloog verbonde aan die onafhanklike digitale weerkanaal, Vox Weather.

Sy vertel wat Suid-Afrikaners hierdie winter te wagte kan wees.

This brand-new series goes beyond maps and models to uncover the real stories shaped by weather.

𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆?

In Episode 1, we meet up with Matt Ashwell, a passionate paraglider in Cape Town, to learn how weather shapes his sport — and break down the science behind those perfect flying conditions.

Huge thanks to @MattAshwell for taking the time to fly with us, @SkyrideParagliding for our first lesson, and @BothaFilms for capturing and editing the adventure!

🎥🪂 This is where adventure meets atmosphere. This is 𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭.

The South African Weather Service has issued an Orange Level 5 Warning for severe thunderstorms across parts of Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, as a powerful weather system called a ‘cut-off low’ moves into the country from the west, bringing heavy rain, chilly temperatures and even snow in some areas from Wednesday, 23 April until Saturday, 26 April 2025.

The weather service issued the warning on Thursday, 24 April, and it will remain in effect until midnight.

The warning indicates a medium likelihood of severe thunderstorms with significant potential impacts, including flooding, large amounts of small hail and excessive lightning. The weather service warned that heavy downpours could lead to flooding of roads and bridges, damage to infrastructure and disruptions to daily life.

The affected areas include Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Mogale City, Rand West City, Emfuleni, Lesedi, Merafong City, Midvaal and Dipaleseng.

From a maths-loving farm girl to one of SA’s most recognisable meteorologists, Annette Botha is bringing weather to life in a whole new way.

With her long blonde hair, bright smile and warm personality, Vox Weather founder and meteorologist Annette Botha resembles South Africa’s very own Wonder Woman of weather.

She dreams of flying high and empowering others – one weather update at a time. Botha, 33, describes herself as a sunshine kind of person with a passion for maths and weather systems.

Riverwell Residents Association workers help clean flood damage, including a crushed palisade fence and collapsed garden wall, on the Dolfhout Street bridge over the Klein Jukskei in Weltevreden Park, 6 March 2025, after heavy rains caused massive flooding across north-western Joburg yesterday. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen

The vicious thunderstorm which hit northern Johannesburg on Wednesday afternoon, causing widespread flooding, infrastructure damage and power outages, is classified officially as a cloudburst.

But predicting one of these with accuracy is almost impossible with current technology, says a weather expert.

Vox Weather meteorologist Michelle du Plessis said the storm that hit Johannesburg and surrounding areas was not a supercell, but a cloudburst.

“A cloudburst is defined as 10cm (100mm) or more of rainfall within one hour, leading to rapid water accumulation.

This explains why areas such as Johannesburg, including Roodepoort, Krugersdorp, Sandton, and Kempton Park, recently experienced extreme rainfall,” she said…

Die brug in Gertrudestraat, Randparkrif, wat oorspoel het. Inwoners dink dis as gevolg van padwerke by dié brug dat hulle huise verspoel het.

Brutal winter storm slams South Africa: Eastern Cape on high alert with flooding, snow and road chaos

Comrades Marathon runners warned to prepare for extreme winter weather during run this weekend

Sunny and cool weather expected to welcome Nampo visitors

Cold front hits Western Cape this weekend: Expect thundershowers, gale-force winds

Verwagte weerstoestande vir die winter

Beyond the Forecast | EP 1 – Paragliding with Matt Ashwell

Severe weather alert: Brace yourself for heavy rain, snow and dangerous storms this week

Annette Botha: SA’s Wonder Woman of weather

Experts warn of more flooding as Johannesburg reels from cloudburst

Jhb se Klein-Jukskeirivier stroom deur huise ná wolkbreuk