Friday weather: Strong winds, high fire danger and scattered showers

Strong winds, high fire danger and isolated showers will shape South Africa’s weather on Friday, with yellow level 2 warnings in place for parts of the coast and interior.

South Africa can expect a varied weather pattern on Friday, with strong winds, very warm to hot conditions in some areas, and isolated showers and thundershowers in parts of the eastern provinces.

Fire danger will also be extremely high across parts of the Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape.Gauteng will be partly cloudy and cool, becoming warm in the north, while the North West will be fine in the west and partly cloudy elsewhere. The Free State will be fine and cool to warm, although morning fog is expected in the extreme east.

In Mpumalanga and Limpopo, partly cloudy and cool to warm conditions are expected, with a 30% chance of isolated rain and showers in the east. Morning fog is likely along the escarpment.

The Northern Cape will be partly cloudy and warm, with morning fog along the coast. Strong winds are expected over the western and central parts.

The Western Cape will be cloudy to partly cloudy and cool to warm, although it could become hot in places over the West Coast and Central Karoo. Morning fog is expected along the west coast.

The Eastern Cape will see partly cloudy and warm to hot conditions. The western half has a 30% chance of isolated showers and thundershowers in the south-east, while the eastern half can also expect a 30% chance of isolated showers and thundershowers, except in the extreme east. Morning fog is expected along the Wild Coast.

KwaZulu-Natal will generally be fine and cool to warm, becoming partly cloudy in the north-east. Although rain is not expected to be widespread, strong winds are forecast along the coast south of Richards Bay from the afternoon.

A Yellow Level 2 warning for damaging winds and waves is in place along the coast between Port Edward and Richards Bay, where rough conditions could disrupt small harbours, ports and coastal activities.

A second Yellow Level 2 warning covers parts of the Namakwa District Municipality and the central Karoo, where damaging winds could affect settlements and create problems for high-sided vehicles on exposed roads.

Extremely high fire danger conditions are expected over the western parts of the Northern Cape, north-eastern parts of the Western Cape and western parts of the Eastern Cape. Residents in these areas should take extra care to prevent the outbreak and spread of veld fires.