Today's weather: Severe thunderstorms forecast for Gauteng, North West, and Northern Cape

South Africa faces an unsettled Thursday as a band of thunderstorms pushes across central and eastern regions, bringing heightened storm risk and measurable rain chances.

The South African Weather Service has issued a Yellow Level 1 Severe Thunderstorm Warning for an area stretching from Vryburg through parts of the North West and the Northern Cape.

This zone is expected to see heavy downpours, frequent lightning, small hail, strong damaging winds and localised flooding of vulnerable roads, low-lying areas and bridges. Infrastructure may also experience minor storm-related impacts.

Rainfall chances increase significantly over this warned region, where scattered showers and thunderstorms have a 60% likelihood of developing.

The surrounding areas across Gauteng, the Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo can expect a broader sweep of thundershowers with a 30% chance of rain, particularly during the afternoon and evening.

Eastern coastal areas near Richards Bay also fall under a 30% chance of thundershowers, supported by moisture streaming in from the Indian Ocean.

Much of the western half of the country, including the Western Cape and the far western Northern Cape, will remain dry, with no rainfall expected. Conditions there should be warm and stable under clear to partly cloudy skies.

Residents in the warned regions are encouraged to stay alert for rapidly changing weather, avoid flooded low-water bridges and monitor updates throughout the day as thunderstorms intensify.

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