Based on the latest forecast from weather service HungaroMet, the Chief Medical Officer has extended the highest-level nationwide heatwave warning — originally due to expire at the end of Tuesday — until the end of Friday.
Highest-level heatwave warning extended, list of air-conditioned rooms revealed
Persistent heat is expected to continue over the coming days, a joint statement by the national centre for public health and the national directorate-general for disaster management said today. “It is particularly important during this period to look after our own health and look out for one another,” it added.
The elderly, young children, pregnant women, people with chronic conditions — particularly cardiovascular and respiratory conditions — those with metabolic disorders, and outdoor workers are particularly at risk, the statement said.
More than 2,000 air-conditioned rooms are available to the public across the country, and anyone may use them during hot weather, the government said on Facebook on Tuesday. The list of premises can be found on the disaster management authority’s website.
PM Péter Magyar: last Paks turbine still operating safely
The last one of eight turbines at the Paks nuclear power plant is still operating safely, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said in a post on Facebook early Tuesday. Magyar said officials had been “a couple of millimeters” away from a full shutdown of the NPP around 1:30 in the morning, but “then water levels stopped falling and rose 1.5cm by morning“.
Output of the NPP has been gradually scaled back over the past week as water levels on the Danube, used to cool the plant, have reached record lows. In another post later in the morning, Magyar said a weeks-long decline in water levels on the Danube at Paks had been reversed and levels in the NPP’s cooling water channel had slowly started to rise.
“Pump performance has recovered and the situation has stabilised. Water levels at Paks rose 2cm by morning and the last turbine was operating stably,” he added. Magyar said the turnaround gave “reason for hope”, but added that “the most difficult days still lie ahead. He noted that temperatures were expected to rise over 40 degrees Celsius in the coming days before cooling down from Friday.
Heat record broken again, Hungary one of the hottest countries in Europe
Magyar acknowledged steps by businesses and households that resulted in a 600-700 MW reduction in electricity consumption on Sunday and Monday. He said a working group established to manage the situation would meet in the afternoon to take any necessary decisions
He said a working group established to manage the situation would meet in the afternoon to take any necessary decisions. In a video message from the site of the NPP in the afternoon on Tuesday, Magyar said water levels were now 3cm higher. He added that keeping the last turbine running would depend on water levels and water quality.
He said that the three blocks that were shut down earlier were being kept at a temperature of 260 degrees to allow their restart after water levels rise. He added that restarting the blocks would require “several days”. Magyar noted that rain was forecast for Thursday for areas of Austria and Germany that feed into the Danube and that water could arrive in Hungary within a week, allowing the NPP’s blocks to be restarted.
Heatwave peaking: could the record temperature be broken? Latest forecast
