World Cup weather 2010

Advertisement

Second semi-final sizzler?

While South Africa is at one with its love of football, the same can't be said for its climate.

Winter in South Africa isn't quite like the typical UK winter but it is still winter in the southern hemisphere - so what will the weather be like for the World Cup?

The final is in Johannesburg, which has two of the World Cup stadiums: Soccer City and Ellis Park.

The city is in the north of the country in the middle of the veld and weather there should be dry, with sunny days but fairly chilly nights, and temperatures here have been known to drop to below freezing at night.

Also on the veld sit the stadiums in Rustenburg, Polokwane, Pretoria and Nelspruit, with similar weather patterns at this time of year.

Further south is Bloemfontein which, being on the edge of the veld, tends to be a bit cooler and wetter than the others.

On the east coast, Durban is the closest to a tropical climate with more rain in summer than winter and where it tends to be wetter than the veld.

Green Point Soccer Stadium in Cape Town

Further down the coast, Port Elisabeth is warm but pays for it with fairly wet weather during winter.

Last but by no means least, Cape Town has a climate similar to the Mediterranean with dry summers and wetter, windier winters.

With this in mind the roof of the newly-built Cape Town Stadium has around 9,000 16mm-thick panels of glass to cover and protect spectators from strong winds and rain.

The Weathershow's Carol Kirkwood takes a detailed look at the various weather conditions likely to affect this year's World Cup venues.