Fast Facts:
Climate:
South Africa’s climate is generally mild throughout the year with summer from October until March and temperatures between 15C/59F and 36C/97F. Winter temperatures vary between 2C/36F and 15C/59F. Rainfall occurs in winter months in the Cape and along the Garden Route, between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. The rest of the country experiences summer rainfall
Summer:
Over much of South Africa, summer (mid-October to mid-February) is characterised by hot, sunny weather – often with afternoon thunderstorms that clear quickly, leaving a warm, earthy, uniquely African smell in the air.
The Western Cape, with its Mediterranean climate, is the exception, getting its rain in winter.
Autumn:
Autumn (fall) in South Africa (mid-February to April) offers the best weather in some respects. Very little rain falls over the whole country, and it is warm but not too hot, getting colder as the season progresses.
In Cape Town, autumn is fantastic, with hot sunny days and warm, balmy nights which many people spend outdoors.
Winter:
Winter in South Africa (May to July) is characterized in the higher-lying areas of the interior plateau by dry, sunny, crisp days and cold nights, sometimes with heavy frosts. It’s a good idea to bring warm clothes. The hot, humid KwaZulu-Natal coast, as well as the Lowveld (lower-lying areas) of Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, offer fantastic winter weather with sunny, warmish days and virtually no wind or rain.
The Western Cape gets most of its rain in winter, with quite a few days of cloudy, rainy weather. However, these are always interspersed with wonderful days to rival the best of a British summer.
The high mountains of the Cape and the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal usually get snow in winter.
Spring:
Nowhere in South Africa is spring (August to mid-October) more spectacular than in the Cape provinces. Here the grey winter is forgotten as thousands of small, otherwise insignificant plants cover the plains in an iridescent carpet of flowers.
The journey to see the flowers of the Namaqualand in the Western and Northern Cape is an annual pilgrimage for many South Africans.