🇭🇺Hungary

Spanning roughly 45.7°–48.6°N, Hungary is a landlocked Central European country of approximately 93,030 km² lying almost entirely within the Pannonian Basin. The Danube River bisects the nation into the Transdanubian rolling hills to the west and the vast Great Hungarian Plain, Alföld, to the east. The highest peak is Kékes at 1,014 m in the Mátra range.

The climate is humid continental across most of the country, ranging from Dfb to warmer Dfa/Cfa around Budapest, with a slight oceanic Cfb tendency in the wetter west near Sopron and Zalaegerszeg, and a more continental, drier character on the Great Plain around Debrecen and Szeged, approaching the Pontic-Caspian steppe.

Budapest sees January highs of 3°C with nights of −3°C and July highs of 28°C, with 530 mm of rainfall, peaking in late spring–summer thunderstorms. Debrecen on the Great Plain sees January highs of 2°C with nights of −4°C and July highs of 28°C, with 540 mm. Pécs in the warmer south sees January highs of about 4°C with nights of −2°C and July highs of 28°C, with 660 mm. Szeged in the southeast sees January highs of 3°C with nights of −3°C and July highs of 29°C, with 530 mm.

Sopron on the Austrian border sees January highs of 3°C with nights of −3°C and July highs of 27°C, with over 700 mm. The Mátra and Bükk uplands stay below freezing in January, with highs around −1°C and nights near −5°C on Kékes, with 800–900 mm of precipitation. The all-time temperature range is approximately −35.0°C, recorded at Görömbölytapolca (Miskolc) in February 1940, to 42.0°C at Szécsény in June 2026.

Hungary has experienced multiple significant weather events in recent decades. The 2010 floods caused widespread damage, above all in northern Hungary. The Great Plain has undergone recurrent severe summer droughts, which reduced maize and sunflower crop yields. An intense heatwave occurred in July 2007, with record temperatures recorded in southern regions.

Additionally, summer thunderstorms can produce hail, and late-spring frosts damage vineyard crops. These events reflect shifts in precipitation patterns and temperature variability.

Our archive covers 16 Hungarian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Szeged, with average highs around 28.2°C, while Miskolc has the coldest January nights, with average lows near −4.8°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.7°C.