Thursday brings partly cloudy and warm to hot conditions across much of South Africa, with the central and eastern interior once again in line for developing thundershowers as the day wears on.

The South African Weather Service has highlighted a Yellow Level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms over a broad swathe of the central interior and eastern parts of the country.

These storms may bring heavy downpours that can cause localised flooding in low-lying areas and on susceptible roads, along with bursts of small hail and strong, gusty winds that could lead to minor infrastructure damage.

Rain chances remain highest over parts of the Free State, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, eastern Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape interior, where scattered thundershowers are expected with rainfall probabilities of around 60%.

Some areas further south and along the coast may see only isolated activity, with rain chances closer to 30%, while much of the far western interior is expected to stay dry.

At the same time, a heat wave with persistently high temperatures is expected to continue in parts of the Eastern Cape, specifically over the Sarah Baartman, Chris Hani, Joe Gqabi, Alfred Nzo, OR Tambo and Amathole District Municipalities through Thursday.

Extremely uncomfortable conditions are also forecast over most of the Western Cape, Northern Cape, the Free State and the southern parts of the North West, with the heat expected to persist into Friday.

Temperatures will remain on the warm to hot side nationwide, becoming oppressive in the heat wave areas, while coastal regions may be slightly milder at times due to cloud cover.

Residents in affected regions are urged to take heat precautions and remain weather-aware during the afternoon and evening, as localised severe thunderstorms may develop over the interior.

IOL

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