Storm, hail, fire, wind, heat alerts over much of the country

A combination of blistering temperatures, thunderstorms and hail have been forecast for parts of the country on Friday December 21 2018.

"Severe thunderstorms, with mainly hail and strong gusty winds, are expected in places over Gauteng," the South African Weather Service said in its travellers’ forecast on Friday.

Similar conditions were expected in the eastern and northeastern parts of North West, the extreme northern areas of the Free State, as well as over the Mpumalanga highveld and parts of Limpopo.

The weather service issued a warning on Thursday for "severe thunderstorms" over parts of Limpopo. In the ensuing storm, patients had to be evacuated overnight from Jane Furse Hospital, which was flooded after being hit by a fierce hail storm.

An extreme warning was also issued for dangerous fire conditions over the central and eastern parts of the Northern Cape and western parts of the North West on Friday.

Upington will swelter, with temperatures expected to hit 40˚C on Friday. Kimberley will hit a high of 38˚C, along with Taung in the North West.

Cape Town will reach 29˚C, Port Elizabeth 28˚C, Johannesburg 30˚C and Durban will be cloudy at 24˚C.

In Sydney, Australia, residents are counting the cost after a hail storm on Thursday that is being described as the worst to hit the city in 20 years.

Homes and cars were pummelled by hail stones measured by the Bureau of Meteorology to be as big as eight centimetres in diameter, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.