Wintry weather for the southern hemishpere by Kaye Forster
It may have felt a touch autumnal in the UK in recent days, but the weather in parts of South Africa and Australia has had a wintry flavour.
An intense area of low pressure has brought heavy rain and snow to South Africa’s southern region today, blocking roads and causing many motorists to abandon their vehicles.
In the northern part of Eastern Cape, cars and lorries were left stranded as the heavy snow set in, forcing authorities to launch a rescue mission for the stranded drivers. There are now fears that the roofs of houses and buildings would collapse under the weight of the snow in several towns across the province.
This wintry blast is not uncommon in South Africa at this time of year, but it is the second significant storm to hit this region in a month. Two weeks ago an intense area of low pressure caused a lot of destruction in Lesotho and Eastern Cape.
Meanwhile south-eastern parts of Australia have also been battered by severe weather in the past few days. A powerful storm packed with thunder, hail and strong winds passed through Sydney during the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The storm intensified as it approached Sydney and generated an intense amount of hail. The hail was not particularly large, just pea sized, therefore it did not cause too much damage, but it was the amount of hail which was of surprise. The streets were left blanketed by the hail, and looked as though a snow storm had passed through. Entire areas were left white during a very small space of time and the hail was ankle deep in some places.
The storm has now moved out to sea and for the next few days Sydney should be dry and sunny with temperatures climbing to a warm 23C (73F).
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