The season’s first snowfall surprised Hungary this morning – photos, videos

Snowfall has arrived in Hungary today. Yesterday’s weather in Hungary felt as if summer had returned. Huge dark clouds covered the sky, lightning lit up many regions, some areas experienced hail, while others captured rainbows. However, on Kékestető and in the Bükk mountains, the first snow of the season fell overnight.

Summer showers, hurricane-force winds and mammatus clouds

By morning, our highest peak, the 1014-metre Kékestető, was dusted with fine powdery snow, as was Bánkút in the Bükk.

During the day, unusually strong thunderstorms dominated, bringing incredible hurricane-strength gusts. For example, Kalocsa recorded winds reaching 113 km/h. Some places saw hail, others enjoyed rainbows, and many received sudden summer-like downpours, accompanied by pleasant warm temperatures and lightning. HungaroMet even issued an orange alert for several regions in the Great Plain yesterday afternoon.

Here is a video of yesterday’s hailstorm:

And here are some pictures of the rainbows, which were particularly spectacular due to the low position of the sun:

Yesterday nearly broke the national daily temperature record, with many places enjoying temperatures between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius.

• Hungary prepares for a cold front: Arctic temperatures and even snowfall may arrive

In the afternoon, mammatus clouds also appeared. These formations may signal approaching severe storms, heavy rain, strong winds, hail, turbulence, lightning, or even tornadoes—though these are rare in Hungary. If you see them, it’s wise to seek shelter immediately.

If you want to view more photos of these unusual November atmospheric phenomena, click on the Időkép article.

• Rare celestial spectacle over Hungary: Northern Lights reappear as the week begins with frosty mornings – video

Extreme cold and snowfall in the mountains

The arriving cold front also brought a drop in temperature, especially in higher-lying areas, causing precipitation to turn to snowfall. By dawn, both Kékestető and Bánkút were covered in white.

Temperature maps show frost nearly everywhere in the mountains. The coldest spot was the Börzsöny’s Nagy-Hideg Hill, where it dropped to -2.4 °C. Frost was also recorded in the Kőszeg Mountains, Bakony, Pilis, and on peaks across the Northern Mountain Range.

What to expect this week

The usual cold November weather will stay for the remainder of the week. The highest daytime temperature expected is 14 °C on Thursday in the southeast, with average highs between 5 and 10 degrees. Mornings will be chilly, around freezing or below in some regions. The Transdanubian region and northern mountains may see significant precipitation, including snow and freezing rain, over the weekend, according to forecasts.

Click and read more articles in our weather archive.