Widespread snowfall possible for South Africa and Lesotho – low-level and disruptive for some regions

By Staff Writer
Published: 31 May 2025 [updated 8 June]

This forecast covers: Sat 07 Jun – Wed 11 Jun


Snowfall is possible for the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Mpumalanga and Lesotho from Saturday in the west and into next week, and temperatures are likely to drop significantly.

A particularly intense cut-off low (COL) system, associated with severe and extreme winter weather, is expected to affect South Africa, persisting over the country until at least the middle of next week over the eastern provinces according to the SA Weather Service.

Snow is currently indicated from late on Saturday in the west of the country, moving eastward through Sunday, Monday and into Tuesday.

Gauteng is back on the radar for very light snowfall but this may change. Mpumalanga is on the radar for possible light snowfall, as per the map.

So far the SA Weather service have issued a level 3 warning for disruptive snow north of Beaufort West in the Western Cape on Sunday and Monday, and a level 2 warning for disruptive snow over the Chris Hani district municipallity (excluding Molteno, Intsika Yethu and Dr AB Xuma local municipalities), Dr Beyers Naude (Graaff-Reinet), Raymond Mhlaba, Amahlathi and Umzimvubu local municipality of the Eastern Cape. We expect that more warnings will be issued.

Low-level snow is indicated in KwaZulu-Natal from Monday, including on parts of the N3 between Villiers in the Free State and Van Reenen in KwaZulu-Natal.

Most of Lesotho is also currently indicated to get snowfall, including Maseru, the top of Sani Pass and Afriski Mountain Resort and for many some of Lesotho the data currently indicates that it will be heavy.

With a chance of heavy snowfall in Lesotho and the Drakensberg, hikers planning trips in this region should continue to watch our forecasts throughout this week.

The snow will be low enough to settle on the high-ground and mountain passes, as well as many of the villages and towns marked on the map.

Major national roads in South Africa that are currently indicated to get snow in some areas include the N1, N2, N3, N4, N5, N6, N9 and N11 but this may change.

If you are planning to travel through areas that may get snow it is worth being prepared by reading our article on safe winter travel.

Driving will definitely be challenging in a number of areas, very challenging in some and travel should be reconsidered for areas marked as heavy on the map.

Hotspots for heavier snowfall in South Africa include the Noupoort, Graaff-Reinet and Nieu-Bethesda, many areas in the northern part of the Eastern Cape, parts of KwaZulu-Natal in the Southern Drakensberg region such as Underberg and Himeville as well as Kokstad.

Very heavy snowfall is expected for the Eastern Cape around Rhodes and Barkly East from Monday morning and into Tuesday.


The map indicates where we are seeing the possibility of snow, but it may not fall in all of the areas shown on the map. As with any forecast of any kind (temperature, clouds, rain, wind), what eventually happens may or may not be similar to the forecast. Snow indicated may reduce or vanish completely in some areas, or the dates and times may change.


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