News24 | Tuesday’s weather: Heatwave in KZN as storms threaten southern regions with flooding

High temperatures will be felt across KwaZulu-Natal.

Maksim Safaniuk/iStock via Getty Images

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned of severe thunderstorms accompanied by heavy downpours, damaging winds, hail and lightning over southern KwaZulu-Natal and the extreme north-eastern parts of the Eastern Cape, with a Yellow Level 2 warning in effect.

Meanwhile, a heatwave continues to grip parts of the country, with persistently high temperatures expected in places over north-western KwaZulu-Natal.

Impact-based warnings

Severe thunderstorms with heavy downpours, damaging winds, hail and lightning may cause localised flooding and localised damage to infrastructure and settlements in southern KwaZulu-Natal and the extreme north-eastern parts of the Eastern Cape.

Weather forecast for today & tomorrow: Partly cloudy & warm to hot conditions are expected, with isolated to scattered thunderstorms possible over the central, western & eastern parts of the RSA by the afternoon. Severe thunderstorms are possible over the Eastern Cape & KZN. pic.twitter.com/llOwN0Q7jt

— SA Weather Service (@SAWeatherServic) October 12, 2026

In the SAWS colour-coded weather warning system, yellow indicates a moderate risk of impact that requires caution and awareness, while orange indicates that a higher-risk impact is expected, requiring increased attention and preparation.

The SAWS uses the numbers to indicate the likelihood of weather-based impacts occurring. Levels 2 and 6 are high, Level 5 is medium, and levels 4 and 8 are low.

Advisories

A heatwave with persistently high temperatures is expected in places over north-western KwaZulu-Natal.

The weather in your province

Gauteng: Fine and warm, but hot in the north.

Pretoria: 15°C—32°C

Johannesburg: 12°C—30°C

Vereeniging: 13°C—30°C

Mpumalanga: Fine and warm to hot but very hot in places over the Highveld.

Mbombela: 15°C—33°C

Ermelo: 12°C—29°C

Emalahleni: 11°C—31°C

Standerton: 10°C—31°C

Skukuza: 14°C—36°C

Limpopo: Fine and hot to very hot.

Polokwane: 16°C—32°C

Phalaborwa: 17°C—35°C

Tzaneen: 16°C—33°C

Musina: 16°C—36°C

Lephalale: 15°C—35°C

Mokopane: 16°C—33°C

North West: Partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated afternoon showers and thundershowers in the west.

Mahikeng: 15°C—32°C

Vryburg: 15°C—30°C

Klerksdorp: 13°C—32°C

Potchefstroom: 14°C—31°C

Rustenburg: 15°C—33°C

Free State: Partly cloudy and warm with isolated afternoon showers and thundershowers, except in the north-east. It will be cloudy in the west.

Bloemfontein: 15°C—28°C

Welkom: 15°C—29°C

Bethlehem: 11°C—29°C

Northern Cape: Partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers in the east. It will be cloudy in the extreme east. The wind along the coast will be fresh southerly to south-westerly.

Kimberley: 15°C—27°C

Upington: 17°C—31°C

De Aar: 16°C—25°C

Alexander Bay: 14°C—23°C

Springbok: 13°C—26°C

Calvinia: 10°C—25°C

Sutherland: 8°C—23°C

Western Cape: Partly cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and rain over the south-western parts for the morning. Isolated showers and thundershowers are expected over the north-eastern parts in the afternoon. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate south-westerly to southerly.

Cape Town: 14°C—21°C

Vredendal: 14°C—25°C

Riversdale: 14°C—23°C

George: 13°C—19°C

Worcester: 12°C—26°C

Beaufort West: 15°C—25°C

Oudtshoorn: 14°C—25°C

Western half of the Eastern Cape: Partly cloudy and cool with isolated showers and thundershowers, except in the south-west. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate south-westerly.

Eastern half of the Eastern Cape: Cloudy and cool with scattered showers and thundershowers. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate south-westerly to southerly.

Gqeberha: 14°C—21°C

KuGompo City (East London): 16°C—22°C

Makhanda: 13°C—20°C

Nxuba (Adelaide): 13°C—25°C

Robert Sobukwe Town (Graaf-Reinet): 14°C—23°C

Port St Johns: 18°C—23°C

Mthatha: 13°C—25°C

Komani: 14°C—24°C

Qonce: 14°C—21°C

KwaZulu-Natal: Morning fog patches over the interior, otherwise partly cloudy and hot to very hot but warm in places in the south. Isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers are expected, except in the north-east.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh northerly to north-easterly north of Durban, otherwise moderate to fresh south-westerly to southerly.

Durban: 22°C—27°C

Richards Bay: 20°C—28°C

Pietermaritzburg: 18°C—29°C

Ladysmith: 18°C—36°C

This weather report was written with the support of Toqan AI.