Hungary is experiencing a striking weather divide on Friday, with temperatures varying by more than 10°C between the country’s coolest and hottest regions. A wavy frontal system is bringing heavy showers and thunderstorms to western and northern Hungary, while the southeast is sweltering in temperatures approaching 40°C.
21°C in the west, almost 39°C in the southeast
The contrast was already clear around midday and remained pronounced throughout the day. According to Időkép, the highest temperature recorded on Friday was 38.7°C near Kötegyán in Békés County, while the instruments at Kendig Peak in the west showed just 21.36°C. The national average was around 32°C.
The sharp contrast is being driven by the frontal system crossing the country. While sunny and mostly dry conditions prevail across much of the southeast, cloudier and stormier weather is affecting the west and north.
Storms and torrential rain expected
HungaroMet forecasts several waves of showers and thunderstorms moving from southwest towards northeast across northern and western parts of the country.
Thunderstorms may bring strong or locally severe wind gusts, hail and intense rainfall. Conditions are particularly favourable for severe storms in Transdanubia, where storm systems could develop with very strong winds, larger hail and torrential downpours.
The weather service has issued warnings for thunderstorms in western and northern counties, as well as for torrential rain in four western counties. Heat-related warnings are also in place in four counties in the Southern Great Plain. Thunderstorm activity is expected to decrease towards late evening, although another, weaker band of showers and thunderstorms may arrive from the west later at night.
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Weekend brings cooler temperatures
Temperatures will fall to between 21 and 30°C by late Friday evening. Saturday will be noticeably cooler, with daytime highs generally between 25 and 33°C. Sunday morning will bring temperatures of around 13–20°C, while afternoon highs are expected to reach 24–31°C.
The heat will gradually return in the following days, with daytime temperatures rising again in some parts of the country. HungaroMet currently expects highs of 28–34°C on Thursday. For now, however, Hungary remains divided between stormy, significantly cooler conditions in the west and another spell of intense summer heat in the southeast.
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