PICTURES: From picturesque snow to blistering cold fronts, flooding and bustling wind

Cape Town - 8July 2024 - Snowfall in the areas surrounding Ceres as cold fronts continue to hit the Western Cape. Photographer Ayanda Ndamane/ Independent Newspapers

Cape Town - Amidst high-level warnings from the South African Weather Service (Saws), the cold fronts that landed in the Western Cape and the harsh wet weather conditions have caused widespread damage.

From large waves to white mountain tops, snow-covered wine farms to flooded informal settlements in the Cape Town metro, uprooted trees, flooded drains and flipped cars in the suburbs, Western Cape residents are seeing it all this week.

In the latest update from the SA Weather Service, the existing weather warnings remain in place for the today and tomorrow (level 6 disruptive rain and level 4 damaging winds, now extended to Thursday).

However, there is also a warning for level 8 disruptive rain in place for Thursday, 11 July 2024, as well as a level 6 warning for damaging waves.

This will likely exacerbate the impacts of the severe weather to date – the City said all its services are on hand to deal with incidents that may arise from the forecast.

The City of Cape Town’s Traffic Services cautioned residents to be alert for localised flooding of roadways as wet and windy weather were set to remain for the next few days.

Numerous rivers and canals are at capacity, with some bursting their banks of which Eerste River in Macassar.

There is also reports of flooded roads across the metropole – the Roads Department is working to address any blockages of the stormwater system. However, the sheer amount of rain that has fallen has been a complicating factor.

Meanwhile, in areas like Khayelitsha, close to 1000 structures were destroyed by strong winds and floods, leaving up to 4000 people destitute.

While charities and humanitarian organisations began relief efforts, the City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre and its provincial counterpart were still recording the areas affected and tallying the number of families affected.

In areas surrounding Ceres and on the outskirts of the Western Province, locals were experiencing snowfall as cold fronts continued to land.

According to Saws, South Africans will continue to experience inclement weather conditions until later this week, with temperatures dropping well below 10℃.

Independent Newspapers Photographers Armand Hough, Ayanda Ndamane, Henk Kruger and Leon Lestrade have all been busy snapping pics of the weather’s widespread impact.