Extreme weather events in Hungary due to global heating, climate researchers says

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A climate researcher has attributed severe thunderstorms that struck Hungary last week to climate change.

Péter Szabó, an environmental historian, told Euronews that the frequency and intensity of heatwaves in the country has increased, alongside severe rainstorms.

"We can clearly see from the numbers that the frequency and intensity of heat waves has increased. So they are lasting longer and temperatures are higher," he said.

"In parallel, the frequency of thunderstorms seems to be increasing. And the length and intensity of droughts is also increasing. This is clearly due to climate change."

He added that the Balkans and Hungary are experiencing the effects of global warming faster than other locations in Europe, with higher temperatures causing significant damage to Hungarian agriculture.

Last week, severe thunderstorms forced the closure of Budapest international airport after debris from storms was blown across the runway.

The departures hall in Terminal 2A was partially flooded and the building was evacuated as winds of up to 130 kph uprooted trees and tore roofs from buildings.

Imre Dóka, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Directorate, told Euronews his agency had never received so many alerts and had to intervene in twice as many places as during major storms that battered the country in 2023.

"Due to the storms that have passed over the past few days, firefighters had to respond in 12,000 locations. This included fallen trees, downed branches and damage to buildings," he explained.

The gale also impacted the national railway network with the country's main operator, MÁVINFORM, no longer showing journey times on the North Balaton line due to overhead line faults.

In a statement, MÁVINFORM said that gale-force winds of 150-170 kph on the northern shore of Lake Balaton had blown down the overhead line, while on the southern shore trees had fallen onto the track, damaging power lines.