It will be a hot new year

NEW Year’s Day tomorrow promises to be a scorcher across the Eastern Cape, with hot and humid conditions expected along the coast and extremely hot weather in the interior of the province.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) issued advisories that extremely uncomfortable conditions can be expected in the southern parts of the province while temperatures exceeding 40°C can be expected to the west.

Due to the warmer weather, beaches are expected to fill up over the next few days, and the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) also issued a spring tide warning up until Monday.

Deon van der Mescht, from the SAWS Port Elizabeth’s forecast desk, said hot and sunny conditions are expected today and tomorrow, with some clouds and possible rain rolling into the Eastern Cape from the north-west on Monday.

“The hot conditions will continue to New Year’s Day [tomorrow], with interior temperatures ranging between 34°C and 38°C, and 27°C and 30°C along the coast.

“Scattered showers and thundershowers are expected to enter the Eastern Cape from the north-west on Monday afternoon, spreading eastward across the province during the night,” he said.

Humid conditions expected along coast.

By Monday clouds are expected to roll in over most of the Eastern Cape, and the SAWS predicted are the about 3mm of rain to fall across the province.

NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon advised that bathers only use beaches where there were lifeguards on duty, and to stay within demarcated zones between flags.

“Paddlers and boaters can also download the free app RSA Safetrx to their cellphones, which enables them to indicate when they have an emergency with the push of a button while it gives sea rescue their exact location,” Lambinon said. — maraisr@timesmedia.