The South African Weather Service has predicted a heatwave across areas in the Northern and Western Cape this weekend. Picture: File Image
A heatwave warning has been issued over the Northern Cape areas of Richterveld and Kamiesberg on Saturday, with temperatures reaching up to 40°C.
The forecaster said it is going to be extremely hot across Matzikama and Saldanha Bay local municipalities in the Western Cape, as well as Patensie, Uitenhage, Addo, Grahamstown and Bisho areas in the Sarah Baartman District Municipality in the Eastern Cape over the weekend.
"Extremely high fire danger conditions are expected in places over Namakwa and ZF Mgcwau District Municipalities in the Northern Cape, and Matzikama, Bergrivier, Oudtshoorn and Beaufort West local municipalities in the Western Cape as well as in places in the western parts of the Eastern Cape," Saws added.
Meanwhile, Saws is working on measures to equip South Africans to be better prepared for inclement weather.
This week, the forecaster announced that it was part of a king-size testbed that will bolster the country's early warning weather systems.
The South African Weather Service (Saws) said the project, which kicked off on October 1, will ramp up work done by the Weather and Climate Services for Africa (WISER) Early Warnings for Southern Africa (EWSA) project in South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia, to improve the forecasting ability of meteorologists and disseminate relevant and potentially life-saving weather information to communities.
In a statement issued this week, Saws said under the WISER programme, work is in progress to co-produce early warning alerts for thunderstorms that are accessible and useful to communities.
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