Severe cold and more snow is to hit large parts of the country later on Tuesday and Wednesday, the South African Weather Service has warned.
It said temperatures will drop as low as minus nine degrees Celsius in places such as Sutherland in the Northern Cape. The town was blanketed in snow on Monday.
In the Free State, Bloemfontein saw sleet falling by lunchtime on Tuesday with temperatures hovering at about three degrees Celsius. Various places in central and southern Free State reported snow and sleet, and in Lady Grey in the Eastern Cape snow started to fall at about 11.30am. It was still snowing by late afternoon.
”It’s a fairyland, our own Alps,” said resident Johan Hattingh.
Snowfalls were also reported from Rhodes, Sterkspruit, Aliwal North, Tarkastad and Barkly East.
Earlier on Tuesday, strong winds blew over a light truck on the N3 highway near Windy Corner on the Free State border with KwaZulu-Natal.
The weather service said the cold front was positioned over the Eastern Cape on Tuesday, bringing rain and very cold temperatures to the province.
Snowfalls are expected on the mountains of the Eastern Cape, in Lesotho, on the Drakensberg and in the eastern Free State overnight and on Wednesday morning.
The cold front is expected to pass through Gauteng on Tuesday evening. Wednesday is expected to be much colder, with daytime temperatures in Gauteng between eight and 13 degrees Celsius. Conditions should feel significantly colder, though, with the wind contributing to the chilly conditions.
Early-morning temperatures are likely to fall sharply on Thursday. Daytime temperatures, however, are expected to recover gradually from Thursday onwards.
Sea conditions remained very hazardous, with gale-force winds and very rough seas persisting along the southern Cape coast on Tuesday, spreading towards the Wild Coast and KwaZulu-Natal coast later on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s warnings included gale-force south-westerly winds between Plettenberg Bay and East London, with very rough seas from Lamberts Bay to East London, spreading to the KwaZulu-Natal coast later.
Wednesday is expected to bring gale-force south-westerly winds between Port Alfred and Maputo, with very rough seas from Port Elizabeth to Port St Johns.
Also on Wednesday, very cold conditions are expected over the central interior, the high ground of the Western Cape, the southern and western high ground of the Northern Cape, the northern parts of the Eastern Cape, Lesotho, the Free State, southern Mpumalanga, southern Gauteng, south-western parts of North West province and the western high ground of KwaZulu-Natal.
Heavy falls of rain are possible in places along the coast and adjacent interior of KwaZulu-Natal. — Sapa