Dr Bongani Elias Sithole | Deputy Director General & Head of the National Disaster Management Centre  

More weather warnings have been issued as the cold front intensifies and a storm surge may result in heavy rainfall and damage to coastal infrastructure.

South African Weather Service meteorologist Kgolofelo Dube said residents in the interior can brace themselves for cold mornings with temperatures dropping to -1ºC in Pretoria -2ºC in Johannesburg and -4ºC in Vereeniging with maximum temperatures barely reaching 14ºC as the cold front moves through the interior.

SA Weather Service’s Hannelee Doubell said an intense cold front/mid-latitude cyclone would bring a significant drop in atmospheric pressure and strong winds, leading to high waves and storm surges along the west and southeast coastline between Alexander Bay and Gqeberha.

A cold front/mid-latitude cyclone is expected to cause low atmospheric pressure and strong winds, resulting in large waves and storm surge in South Africa’s west and south-east coasts on Monday, the South African Weather Service (Saws) said.

Saws said that a storm surge is when seawater rises above the projected astronomical tides due to a storm or severe weather. Surges can be positive (storm surge) or negative (negative surge).