Hungary shivers in extreme cold: shocking frost data emerges – Orbán cabinet acts without delay

Hungary woke to an extreme cold last night, with temperatures plunging below -20°C in parts of the country, fresh data reveals. The bone-chilling low hit -20.4°C in Szabolcsbáka – enough to make your breath catch fire.

Portfolio.hu reports that most north-eastern regions saw mercury drop below -15°C overnight. Thermometers at over 50 measuring points across the area confirmed the deep freeze. Thanks to a temperature inversion trapping the cold air, the “warmest” spot in Mátraszentistván barely scraped -4.2°C.

Relief is on the horizon – expect a gradual thaw in the second half of the week. But this unusually savage winter shows no signs of loosening its icy grip on Hungary just yet.

• Why winter is the best time to visit Hungarian thermal baths

PM Orbán: Cranking up the utility price scheme

“We need to crank up the regulated utilities price scheme and we will,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Facebook, adding that “it will be the most important task for Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.”

“We have not had a January as cold as now for decades; this makes us realise the value of the regulated utilities price scheme and appreciate that in today’s crazy world we still have access to cheap Russian oil and gas,” the prime minister said.

We explained the unique Hungarian utility price protection scheme that helped Orbán and his Fidesz win multiple elections in a separate article.

Government to freeze utilities bills in January

The government will freeze household utilities bills in January amid the extreme cold, Orbán said in a message on Facebook on Wednesday. Orbán said the government would take over the cost of turning up the heat during the unusually cold weather. He added that those costs presented “an unexpected and significant burden” to households.

He said the extreme weather conditions in January had “put Hungary to the test“, but the country had “beat the snow” a week earlier.