Winter is... back? From hot as hell to the big freeze, SA braces for cold snap

As bizarre as it may be given the soaring temperatures‚ parts of SA are expected to experience a “big freeze” over the next two days.

The SA Weather Service warned of the possibility of “some extreme weather conditions expected to affect the southern‚ central and eastern portions of the country‚ as of Tuesday."

“This extreme‚ wintery weather will include snowfalls mainly over the southern and central parts of the Drakensberg and could become disruptive in places‚” said the weather service.

Spokesperson Hannelee Doubell said cold conditions were predicted for many parts of SA. The cold weather was also likely to bring with it heavy rain.

“The weather system responsible for this episode of extreme weather is a cold front accompanied by an upper air trough (extension of low pressure) which will be moving across the southern half of the country‚" said Doubell.

The weather is expected to clear by Friday.

Snow Report SA’s Rob Ansell said light snowfall was expected for the Eastern Cape and parts of the Drakensberg on Wednesday.

“During the afternoon on Wednesday‚ we expect these falls to intensify in central eastern parts of Lesotho‚ as well as extending further north into the Maluti Mountains around AfriSki and between Clarens and Harrismith in SA.”

Light snow is also forecast around Harrismith and on the N3 between Johannesburg and Durban late on Wednesday night.

“Unless the quantity increases substantially we don’t expect the N3 to be closed during the night or on Thursday morning‚" said Ansell

“During the early hours of Thursday morning‚ we are surprised to see snow showing for Mpumalanga and the far eastern Free State in a band from Harrismith in the south to Graskop in the north‚ incorporating towns like Belfast‚ Ermelo‚ Wakkerstroom and Zamani‚ with flurries possible in neighbouring towns.”

Here's your five-day weather forecast for Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth: