PHOTOS: Extreme cold to come next week in Hungary, snow, frost covers the country

Next week will be the coldest period of this winter, the Hungarian Meteorological Service (OMSZ) told MTI, the Hungarian News Agency. As a result, there will be a lot of ground frost, impacting plants considerably.

In January, a constant West-South West wind stream brought wet and mild weather to the Carpathian Basin in the last few weeks. However, the direction of that wind stream changed last week to the Northwest, causing less precipitation and a temperature closer to the country’s historic winter average.

In the Bakony Mountain, 10 cm of snow is expected today:

The OMSZ added that Monday morning would be the coldest. The temperature will be between minus 1 and 9 degrees. Everybody should prepare for that change since until now, the average temperature of the last 30 days exceeded the normal by 3-6 °C. Thus, the difference will be palpable.

Snowfall in the Mátra:

And on the Kékes (1014m):

Until now, ground frosts were rare in most Hungarian territories. The upper layer of the ground froze only for some nights. OMSZ recalled that the mild winter harmed plants and disturbed their vegetation cycle. Furthermore, the number of parasites and pathogens was not reduced because of the warm weather.

Read also: Snow shower and frost to come to Hungary this week – weather forecast

OMSZ highlighted that the mild weather was dangerous, especially on fruit trees. If their deep relaxation period ends too early, they can become extremely sensitive to frost. Interestingly, the blooming of the hazelnut started even in Northeast Hungary.

Kőszegi Mountain in West Hungary:

Thus, it is good news that next week will probably be the coldest in Hungary this winter. That is because an Arctic air mass is to cover the Carpathian Basin from Saturday. As a result, wind speed may reach 120-130 km/h in some parts of the country.

The warning of the Metkép:

Here is a wind map:

The temperature will be around 0 degrees, but individual comfort might even be lower because of the hurricane-like wind. From Sunday, the temperature will be below 0 even during the day in the Northeastern regions.

From Sunday, the temperature might go below minus 10 degrees in some parts of the country. Thus, the first period of next week will be the coldest this winter bringing a lot of ground frost.