Tuesday weather: Severe thunderstorms, hail and damaging winds to batter parts of SA - IOL

The South African Weather Service has issued a Yellow Level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms on Tuesday, with heavy rain, hail, damaging winds and lightning threatening parts of South Africa.

Severe thunderstorms are expected to hit large parts of South Africa on Tuesday, with Gauteng, North West and several other regions facing heavy downpours, damaging winds, hail and excessive lightning.

The South African Weather Service has issued a Yellow Level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms for Tuesday, covering North West, Gauteng, the Mpumalanga Highveld, south-western Limpopo, northern Free State and the extreme north-eastern parts of the Northern Cape.

The storms could result in localised flooding of susceptible roads, low-lying areas and bridges, while damaging winds and hail could cause localised damage to settlements and infrastructure.

Rainfall projections show a 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms across Gauteng and parts of North West and Mpumalanga, while a 30% chance is forecast across other parts of the country's central and eastern regions.

Gauteng residents can expect a sharp change to cloudy and cold conditions on Tuesday, although temperatures will be slightly milder in the extreme north.

Scattered showers and thundershowers are forecast across the province, with rainfall chances reaching 60%.

The UVB sunburn index will be moderate.

North West will be cloudy, windy and cool, with scattered showers and thunderstorms. The province falls within the Yellow Level 2 warning area and has a 60% chance of rain in parts.

Mpumalanga will be cloudy and cold, with scattered showers and thunderstorms. Thunderstorms will become more isolated over the northern Lowveld, while rainfall chances reach 60% over parts of the province.

Limpopo will also experience cloudy and cold conditions, with isolated showers and thunderstorms becoming scattered over the south-western and south-central parts. Rain chances range between 30% and 60% across the province.

The Free State will be cold in the east and otherwise cloudy and cool. Isolated showers and thunderstorms are forecast, becoming scattered in the north. Rain chances range from 30% to 60% across parts of the province.

The Northern Cape will be fine and warm across much of the province, but partly cloudy conditions and isolated showers and thunderstorms are expected in the east, where the chance of rain is around 30%.

The Western Cape is expected to remain largely dry, with no rain indicated in the rainfall forecast. It will be partly cloudy over the north-eastern parts in the morning before becoming fine and cool to warm, with hot conditions along the west coast.

Strong winds are possible along parts of the coastline, with fresh to strong north-easterly winds along the south coast in the morning. Strong to near gale-force south-easterly winds are expected along the south-west coast.

The UVB sunburn index will be very high.

The western half of the Eastern Cape will be partly cloudy along the coast at first before becoming fine and cool. The eastern half will be partly cloudy and cool south of the escarpment, becoming cloudy along the coast later in the day.

Evening rain is expected along the coast east of the Kei River, with a 30% chance of rain indicated for parts of the province.

KwaZulu-Natal can expect morning and evening fog over the interior, with otherwise cloudy and cold to cool conditions. Isolated showers and rain are forecast, becoming scattered along the coast and in the extreme north. The chance of rain ranges between 30% and 60% in affected areas.