The South African Weather Service has issued an alert for severe thunderstorms for the Durban Metro, Richards Bay, Estcourt, Kokstad, Mooi River, Pietermaritzburg, Newcastle and areas along the coastline of KwaZulu-Natal.
The service says the areas can expect heavy showers, strong damaging winds and excessive lightning. The weather service has advised the public to avoid activities such as surfing and swimming as rough conditions are expected to escalate this afternoon.
Forecaster, Thandiwe Gumede, has urged residents living in low-lying areas to be cautious.
“KwaZulu-Natal can expect an 80 percent chance of showers and thundershowers over the southern part of the province. Severe thunderstorms are expected to cover most parts of the province. For the northern part of the province, we also have an alert for severe thunderstorms, however, it is a yellow level 2 alert. Most conditions are expected to persist today and continue into the evening. Places along the coast we might still get those thunderstorms during the early hours of tomorrow morning.”
