Hungary’s historic heatwave may exit in a barrage of violent storms, but not before further records fall. After a brutally hot Monday, conditions remain unchanged today — and meteorologists say the all-time national heat record may already have been equalled or narrowly missed within the past few hours. Severe thunderstorms are expected to develop in several regions later today, with a cold front set to arrive on Wednesday afternoon, bringing intense lightning and damaging winds.
Records tumble nationwide
Daily heat records were broken across both Hungary and Budapest on Monday, while new highs were also set for minimum temperatures overnight, according to HungaroMet.
In Aszód, temperatures soared to 41.8C, setting a new national daily maximum and coming within a tenth of a degree of the all-time record of 41.9C, measured in Kiskunhalas on 20 July 2007.
According to Időkép, that temperature became history a few hours ago. Meteorologists measured 42.0 Celsius degrees in Szécsény.
Additional records broken
In the capital, Budapest Újpest recorded 40.3C, shattering the previous city record of 37.5C set in 1947.
Overnight brought little relief. Temperatures in Budapest’s János Hill and Dobogókő fell only to 27.1C, establishing new records for the highest minimum temperatures both nationally and in the capital. The previous records — 24.8C nationwide and 23.2C in Budapest — were both set in 2022.
Preliminary data also indicate a new daily mean temperature record: at Budapest Lágymányos, the 24-hour average reached 33.4C, surpassing the previous national high of 33.3C recorded in Dunaújváros in 2007.
Power outages become more frequent due to extreme heat
The heat has also driven electricity consumption to unprecedented summer levels. On Monday evening, demand on Hungary’s grid reached 7,488 megawatts, breaking the previous summer peak set in July 2024. The all-time record remains 8,182 megawatts, registered in January this year.
Due to the extreme heat, there are two to three times more grid outages than average in Budapest, Pest County and Northern Transdanubia, E.ON Hungaria Group said on Tuesday. Most failures are caused by overloading of medium voltage cables and transformers, which are more difficult to cool due to high ambient temperatures, the company said. In most cases, power supply is restored within a few hours, but some faults may take longer to resolve.
E.ON has rescheduled significant part of pre-planned works that are not absolutely necessary for safe operation, and ordered increased readiness and increased operational management supervision across its entire service area. The company noted that cooler temperatures in the coming days and the cold front arriving with storms may also cause network failures, so it is preparing for this with enhanced readiness.
Storms on the way
If western Europe is any guide, the cold front ending the heatwave is likely to arrive with considerable force. Thunderstorms have already developed in parts of the country, including around Debrecen and Bódvaszilas, but are expected to become more widespread on Wednesday as the front advances from the west.
Forecasts warn of severe storms bringing torrential rain, hail and gale-force gusts, persisting into the evening hours. Temperatures will remain exceptionally high across much of the country until then, before dropping by around 10 degrees by Thursday.
Western regions are expected to see sunnier, drier conditions by Thursday, while the east may continue to experience showers and thunderstorms, possibly accompanied by strong winds. Overnight lows are set to fall below 20C in many areas, with daytime highs no longer exceeding 31C. Despite the storms, significant rainfall is not expected overall.
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Water strain prompts warning
Amid the heat and drought, Prime Minister Péter Magyar has urged the public to conserve water to avert supply crises. Restrictions have already been introduced in several areas, including parts of the Budapest agglomeration in Pest County, where infrastructure designed for smaller populations is struggling under increased demand.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Magyar said the government would overhaul Hungary’s water management strategy, placing water retention at its core. A comprehensive programme to modernise the country’s ageing water network will also be launched, aimed at addressing what he described as an “unacceptable” situation in which up to one in four litres of drinking water is lost before reaching consumers.
He added that the town of Szada became the first in Hungary to lose mains water supply on Monday morning due to system overload. Tankers are currently supplying water there, with additional support deployed in nearby Veresegyház and in parts of Fejér County.
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How is it an “all-time national heat record” if the thermometer was only invented less than 300 years ago, temperatures only started being measured and recorded consistently and reliably a century ago, if that, and if these “records” are very close or less to temperatures taken anything from 20 to 120 years ago???
I’m going to bet my bottom dollar these figures were exceeded by a huge margin during the Roman times or the Medieval warm period.