Alert issued: Brutal snowfall hits Hungary, drive safe!

The Mecsek Hills and the higher points in the southwest are now completely covered with snow. In the Simonfa area near Kaposvár, even the signposts are no longer visible, with reports of 20-25 cm of snow cover. Snow is falling in the west of the country with varying intensity, but continuously. The Hungarian Public Roads (Magyar Közút) asks drivers to drive carefully and with caution, depending on the weather conditions.

Snow has been falling in most parts of the Transdanubian region since overnight, with some areas recording snow depths of up to 10 cm early in the morning, Pénzcentrum writes. However, the forecast predicts that the fresh snow cover could double, and even more could fall in the Bakony and Vértes Mountains.

Thick snow cover

According to reports, the Mecsek and the higher points in the south-west are now completely covered with snow. In the Simonfa area near Kaposvár,

no signposts were visible, with reports of 20-25 cm of snow cover.

According to the latest forecasts, snowfall will gradually spread to the rest of the country starting from late afternoon on Wednesday. Up to 10-15 centimetres of fresh snow may fall in the higher-lying areas of the northeast, i.e. in Nógrád, Heves and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén counties.

Snow clearing and de-icing on Hungarian roads

The Hungarian Public Roads (Magyar Közút) announced that since 10 November it has been continuously carrying out the necessary snow clearing and de-icing works in winter operation, Pénzcentrum reports. Since then, a total of more than 28,000 tonnes of salt and almost 1.7 million litres of calcium chloride solution have been distributed on the national road network in areas affected by snow and sleet. In the next few days, these operations will continue to be carried out in 12-hour shifts, from 0 to 24 hours.

At the same time, motorists are again reminded that even with their hard work, until the snow stops, there may be periods of wintry road conditions. On the 31,000-kilometre national road network, around 700 machines can be deployed. This means that one machine can cover an average of about 40 kilometres of road, including the driving on and off the roads, salt and fuel refuelling, in 2-4 hours, and in the event of heavy snowfall, snow can remain on the surface again.

Motorists should therefore continue to drive with caution on Wednesday and Thursday. They are urged to drive carefully, drive slowly and only use vehicles fitted with winter tyres, and check the current road and visibility conditions and traffic conditions before travelling at www.utinform.hu.

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