Extreme winter weather in Hungary: strains emergency services, transport, and utilities – UPDATE: orange alerts withdrawn

Hungary’s emergency services and transport networks were placed under heavy pressure due to freezing rain, snow, and severe icing, with hundreds of incidents reported nationwide over the past 24 hours.

⚠️LATEST NEWS: Wednesday, January 14, 2026: Frosty weather in Hungary: improvement expected, but danger of icing remains – latest updates⚠️

According to the National Directorate General for Disaster Management (OKF), firefighters responded to 111 incidents between 4 a.m. Monday and 4 a.m. Tuesday, related to the extreme weather, was more than 50% higher than during the same period last year. A total of 492 professional and municipal firefighters, supported by 97 vehicles, were deployed.

Road disruptions and truck bans on major motorways

The disaster management authority reported 12 major incidents on the national road network that required temporary traffic restrictions. These were caused by snowdrifts, accidents, vehicles skidding off roads, or trucks becoming stuck or breaking down. No settlements were cut off due to the weather.

Due to dangerous road conditions:

• A truck ban was introduced overnight on sections of the M85 motorway.
• Heavy goods vehicles are currently banned from the entire M1 motorway and the M15 road between the M1 junction and the Rajka border crossing.
• Because of freezing rain, trucks over 7.5 tonnes are also restricted between Lébény (exit 142) and the Hegyeshalom border crossing on the M1, as well as on the entire M15 motorway.
• Truck traffic is also being restricted on the Hungarian entry side at Rajka.

Power and water supply disruptions reported

On Monday, electricity supply was disrupted at nearly 5,900 locations across 11 counties, 23 settlements, and one district of Budapest. According to OKF, all power outages have since been resolved.

However, water supply disruptions were reported in parts of Komárom-Esztergom, Somogy, and Tolna counties, affecting six settlements and one Budapest district.
At the time of reporting:

• Partial outages remained in Sátoraljaújhely-Károlyfalva and Budapest’s 15th district.
• Full water supply outages were reported in Kenézlő, Zalkod, and Viss in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county.

Weather alerts updated as conditions evolve

The national weather service, HungaroMet, had withdrawn second-level (orange) freezing rain warnings for Fejér and Győr-Moson-Sopron counties, as well as for Komárom-Esztergom county and Budapest.