Pretoria residents urged to stay hydrated as heat soars
EXTREME weather conditions have been beating down on Pretoria since Saturday, with the temperature hitting a high of 37ºC yesterday, and 38ºC will be reached today, putting the city in the grips of a heatwave.
Advising residents to head to the pool and to keep hydrated, meteorologists said Pretoria had been experiencing consistent high temperatures over three consecutive days from Saturday.
But, SA Weather Service forecaster Kgolofelo Chauke assured Pretoria residents the extreme weather conditions would end today.
“People of Pretoria will still experience extreme weather conditions on Monday (today). The heatwave will not continue into Tuesday. Normal summer weather conditions will return from Tuesday, dipping to 31ºC, and on Wednesday dropping even lower to 28ºC, and then rising again on Thursday, when it will be 31ºC,” she said.
Friday’s mercury would hit the 30ºC mark, she said.
The people of Pretoria were not the only ones complaining of the stinging heat – other places that also experienced a heatwave were parts of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, the Free State and the north-eastern parts of the Northern Cape.
Weather services warned that people should not forget to keep hydrated, and to keep their pets, children, the sick and elderly out of the heat to avoid heat stroke.