Steve Pike

WE’VE been saying Winter is Coming for so long now, the words have rearranged themselves into a question.

And I am not taking about the anxious wait for Game of Thrones Season 7. We need winter. We need rain.

Well, apart from a little dousing from the gods this evening and early tomorrow, which serves to ‘warm us’ up so to speak, we are set for mother of a storm on Wednesday.

A twirly tempest has just formed due west of Cape Town off southern Brazil and is deepening into a large chunk of angry ocean. Over the next four days, it will barrel across the Atlantic towards us.

This time, according to the crystal ball, the storm will not miss us – or downgrade because it’s being pushed south by a stronger- than- forecast South Atlantic High.

This time, the High splinters into an bizarre band 1 700 nautical miles long and extending so far deep, the southern end parks on 60 degrees south. Our storm is due to move right over the top of it, and the charts are holding steady as areas of high to the north, west, south and east lock the storm into its track – and feed it with air as it comes.

Scarily, the storm does not weaken as it nears us. It strengthens.

From today until Tuesday morning, its central pressure holds at 985 millibars. A few hours before it