Climate change has unleashed what amounts to a nationwide drought across Hungary, with conditions akin to high summer in August. Experts estimate that the soil is missing roughly a year’s worth of rainfall; on Csepel, water remains in the Little Danube only because it is being continuously replenished. Some lakes across the country, however, have already dried up entirely.
Soil desperately short of water
April typically brings an average of 40 millimetres of rain to Hungary, yet this year the national average was a mere 4 millimetres – just one-tenth of the norm – according to HungaroMet’s Facebook post on Saturday. The consequences of these figures are stark.
Experts speaking to RTL News warned that on certain stretches of the Danube, such as Csepel, the Little Danube bed would by now be completely dry were it not for constant top-ups. That is because the water level stands only at 87 centimetres. The water authority reports a full year’s deficit in soil moisture, and even the winter snowfalls appear to have made little difference. One lifelong resident of Szeged, an elderly local, remarked that he had never seen the Tisza so low.
Such levels are more typical of the hottest summer months, with rivers and lakes resembling August conditions. Lake Balaton lingers at just 13-15°C, yet some ventured a dip over the long weekend. On the southern shore, though, one must trudge several hundred metres before the water is deep enough to swim – the drought spares not even Hungary’s “inland sea”.
Dry, warm weather laced with extremes causes nationwide drought
Riverbed capacity hovers at 10-20 per cent, more usual for August. Lake Velence’s levels are so low that some buoys now bob in the sand, while the Kakasszéki Lake in Békés county has dried up completely.
Meteorologists pin the blame squarely on climate change: Hungary’s climate is acquiring ever more Mediterranean traits, with rainfall arriving in intense, short bursts followed by prolonged dry spells.
The coming days may bring some precipitation – as we have reported – but it is unlikely to resolve the crisis. Experts have long urged policymakers to do far more to retain runoff water. Current systems swiftly channel it beyond the Carpathian Basin, a recipe for disaster for Hungarian agriculture even in the short term. That is why embankment breaches have begun in parts of the Great Plain, deliberately flooding fields to prevent them drying out.
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The driest April on record
HungaroMet noted that only a small portion of the country – a narrow strip along the western border and a pocket in southern Transdanubia, per their infographic – saw more than 10 millimetres of rain in April. Much of the nation recorded scant precipitation last month; data from nine automated stations (two in the capital) showed no measurable rainfall at all. The infographic lists Encs, Kékestető, Püspökszilágy, Jászapáti, Erdőtelek, Tarnaméra, Kompolt, Karcsa, and two Budapest stations as bone dry.
They added that this was one of the driest Aprils since 1901.
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