Weather forecaster warns of severe weather, hail and flooding risk across several provinces

Mapaballo Borotho

severe thunderstorms — Photo by Kaique Rocha Pexels

SAWS has issued a warning about severe weather expected from Saturday to Monday due to a cut-off low-pressure system.
Heavy rainfall, flooding, hail, strong winds and lightning are anticipated across multiple provinces.
The public and farmers are urged to monitor updates and take precautions as the conditions may pose risks to life and infrastructure.

Severe weather conditions are expected to hit the central and eastern parts of South Africa over the coming weekend into early next week.

This was confirmed by the South African Weather Service (SAWS) on Friday, 14 November 2025.

“This will be due to an intense weather system, a cut-off low-pressure system, that is expected to affect the country from Saturday through to Monday (15–17 November 2025). This type of weather system is often associated with widespread rainfall and severe thunderstorms, which both bring a risk of flooding, among others,” said meteorologist Andre Fourie.

The forecasted weather will lead to heavy rainfall with a risk of flooding, severe thunderstorms producing strong damaging winds and large amounts of small hail, as well as excessive lightning.

Fourie says there will be a significant drop in daytime temperatures.

“The possible resultant impacts include flooding of settlements and other properties, dangerous driving conditions, damage to infrastructure (due to flooding and strong winds), as well as the disruption of essential services.”

The South African Weather Service has also warned that there could also be danger to life due to fast-flowing streams of water.

The above-mentioned impacts, with a varying degree of severity, are expected over the central interior, North West, Free State, the eastern parts of the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday, spreading to Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal from Sunday into Monday.

The public, farmers and other stakeholders have been urged to closely monitor weather updates and prepare to take necessary precautions ahead of these expected adverse conditions.