HR
FR
JA
RO
RU
ES
TR
Frosty weather in Hungary: improvement expected, but danger of icing remains – latest updates
Weather conditions in Hungary are easing, and no snowfall or snowdrifts are expected nationwide on Wednesday, according to HungaroMet. The update was announced by National Directorate General for Disaster Management (OKF) spokesperson Dániel Mukics at a press briefing in Budapest following Wednesday’s meeting of the operational task force. He warned that no one should venture onto the ice of rivers, as it is life-threatening.
Warnings and forecasts
A warning (not an alert) has been issued for Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties due to the risk of freezing rain. Authorities advise travelers to check met.hu before setting off; if an alert is issued, people are urged to avoid travel if possible.
Fog is expected in southern parts of the country on Thursday, and no hazardous weather is forecast for Friday. There are no road or settlement closures and no weight restrictions in force anywhere in the country.
Utilities and transport
On Tuesday, power supply disruptions affected 3,846 consumption points across 12 settlements in nine counties and two Budapest districts. Most faults were resolved; by Wednesday morning, outages remained at nine locations in Budapest’s 13th district.
Drinking water supply issues were reported on Tuesday at 1,790 locations across 14 settlements in six counties and one Budapest district; currently, only 15 consumers in Tamási and 16 in Göd remain without water.
Waste collection is operating normally in 85% of the country, with 1–2 day delays in a few places. 139 machines are continuously engaged in snow clearing and de-icing. Rail services face replacement buses on some lines due mainly to accidents and, in a few cases, switch failures; delays are possible. Buses are running with 5–30 minute delays, and eight settlements are temporarily inaccessible by local bus services for safety reasons (details at utinform.hu). Some routes are operating but skipping certain stops.
You can’t take back any mistake. Once you have made it you may easily end up like that car in the picture. Even with winter tires you have to adjust your speed much lower especially when cornering. The worst is “black ice” which you cannot see because it looks like clear pavement. What a hard winter. We are starting an extended multi-week blast of cold where I am in Ontario Canada.
Expert road users do have some forewarning of black ice. Apart from the obvious warning of low temperatures and the greater chance of black ice occuring on minor roads, the road surface is frequently shiny with light reflecting off the surface akin to rainy weather (the degree of reflection varies depending on the type of road surface with rougher asphalt generating lower reflections). Also, road noise is dramatically reduced as one is effectively driving on a sheet of ice, eradicating tyre roar which is why it’s important not to have the radio turned up in these conditions. Steering effort can also be dramatically reduced. All these are signs that one needs to slow down, potentially to crawling speed.