Get prepared! Heatwave is coming again, bringing massive drought to Hungary

The temperature will increase to 35°C for the second part of this week and will even exceed 40°C next week. As a result, further agricultural damage can be expected this summer in Hungary.

After showers, thunderstorms and a slight temperature drop at the beginning of the week, we can expect an intense warm-up on Wednesday. Temperatures will rise to 25-32°C during the day. The weather will be mostly sunny, but in the eastern part of the country, clouds may build up and even bring light showers in the afternoon – reported by Időkép.

On Thursday, further warming is coming, bringing a heatwave to the country. Peak temperatures will be between 29 and 35°C. There will be no rain, but strong winds can be experienced in the central areas.

On Friday, the sunny weather will be interrupted by showers and occasional thunderstorms. Several places will experience strong, sometimes northerly winds. In the afternoon, 28-35°C can be expected – reported by the Hungarian news portal Szeretlek Magyarország.

However, not only humans suffer from the extreme heat and the drought it causes. The heatwave is also causing severe damage to Hungarian agriculture, especially in the eastern part of the country. This year’s rainfall distribution and the resulting field crops are medium to good in the Transdanubian region, but a devastating drought is raging in the Great Plain.

So far, 300,000 hectares of maize and 200,000 hectares of sunflowers have been destroyed by the severe drought, with no harvest left to be gathered. Farmers could have made an exceptionally good profit this year because of high prices, but the losses for these two crops currently reach EUR 981 million (~HUF 400 billion).

The barley harvest was completed with a national average of 4.5 tonnes per hectare, calculated by an average of 5 tonnes per hectare in the Transdanubian region and 2-3 tonnes per hectare in the Great Plain. Wheat is still being harvested, with a national average of between 3.5 and 4 tonnes per hectare. These figures are low compared to last years’ results when the national average fell between 4.5 and 5 tonnes.

The situation is particularly bad for autumn crops. So far, some 300,000 hectares of maize have dried out to such an extent that farmers cannot expect any valuable yields. The estimated loss is approximately 2.1 to 2.4 million tonnes. In the case of sunflowers, 200,000 hectares have been abandoned, which results in roughly 600,000 tonnes of loss – reported by the Hungarian news portal 24.hu.

Due to global trends, and especially the direct effects of the war, the prices of crops are particularly high this year, with maize currently costing at least EUR 294 (~ HUF 120,000) per tonne and sunflowers EUR 613 (~HUF 250,000) per tonne. As a result, even at a conservative estimate, farmers have lost EUR 981 million (~HUF 400 billion) on maize and sunflowers so far this year.

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Source: idokep.hu, 24.hu, szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu