Videos: ice-breakers shatter the freeze on the Danube – even Aussie media’s buzzing about it

Hungary hasn’t seen a winter this brutal in nearly 15 years – no wonder crowds spilled onto the streets during that New Year’s Eve snowstorm! Plenty of tweens and teens have never witnessed snow like this in their lives. Yet this sudden deluge of snow and bone-chilling cold has thrown real challenges at everyone.

Extreme low temperatures, lots of snow

Take snow clearance and gritting roads, for instance – it’s a forgotten art in Hungary. For almost a decade and a half, there haven’t been any major tasks like that. In recent years (with a slight exaggeration), by the time the snow ploughs rolled out, any meagre snowfall had already melted away.

Experts insist this snowfall – which should be par for the course in a typical Hungarian winter – doesn’t signal our climate’s back to normal. Climate change is barreling ahead relentlessly; we’re feeling its effects everywhere we turn. Sadly, this trend allows wild weather swings, like the present cold snap sneaking into our increasingly mild winters.