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Stormy sea foam attracts, drenches onlookers on Cape Town promenade

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Gale-force winds and heavy ocean swells in South Africa's Cape Town halted traffic on Monday with curious onlookers and cars drenched by sea spray foam, witnesses said.

The cappuccino-coloured foam from the icy Atlantic was flung far onto the Sea Point promenade and main road, popular with runners and skaters during summer but virtually deserted in such stormy conditions, Reuters pictures and a video posted by a witness showed.

Africa's southernmost city, Cape Town has been lashed by successive cold fronts with heavy rains and flooding accompanying the latest winter storm that landed late on Sunday in the city known globally among mariners as the "Cape of Storms".

Wind speeds of between 70-100 kmh (43-62 mph) and wave heights up to 10 metres (33 feet) were expected, the city's emergency services said as it continued with mopping up operations to clear flooding and uprooted trees.

(Reporting by Mike Hutchings and Wendell Roelf; Editing by Mark Heinrich)