South Africans have endured days of heavy rain, plunging temperatures and damaging winds that a weather expert says were triggered by a powerful cut-off low system lingering over the north-western parts of the country.
Samkelisiwe Thwala, a senior forecaster with the SA Weather Service, said the system was responsible for the widespread disruption.
A well-defined upper-air system, referred to as a cut-off low, was situated over the north-western parts of the country. This system is associated with heavy rainfall, a drastic drop in temperatures, and strong to gale-force winds, she explained.