Due to the risk of more severe thunderstorms, HungaroMet Zrt. issued a second-level (orange) alert for certain districts of Somogy, Baranya, Tolna and Fejér counties on Monday afternoon. As the storm is moving northeast, a second-level alert was also issued for the capital and several districts in the agglomeration.

According to the warning sent to MTI, more severe thunderstorms can be expected in the affected districts in the coming hours. In addition to lightning, the wind and hail accompanying the thunderstorms also pose a risk.

A second-degree warning is in effect until midnight Monday due to the risk of more severe thunderstorms in the counties of Baranya, Bács-Kiskun, Békés, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Csongrád-Csanád, Fejér, Hajdú-Bihar, Heves, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Nógrád, Pest, Somogy, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Tolna. A first-degree warning is also in effect in these counties due to the risk of thunderstorms until midnight Monday.

Due to the risk of thunderstorms, a first-degree (yellow) warning is in effect for Győr-Moson-Sopron, Komárom-Esztergom, Vas, Veszprém, and Zala counties.

The forecast says that thunderstorms are expected in several waves in several directions until late Monday evening, increasingly to the east, while their probability decreases in the northwest. The thunderstorms may be accompanied by stormy winds, gusts of 60-80 kilometers per hour, locally significant amounts of precipitation, up to 15-30 millimeters, and ice around 2 centimeters.

Severe thunderstorms may develop in some places, with wind gusts of up to 90 kilometers per hour and 2-3 centimeters of ice, as well as downpours, mainly east of the Danube.

The probability of thunderstorms decreases in the east from late evening, and then thunderstorms are likely to develop again from the southwest from dawn. On Tuesday, thunderstorms are expected again in several waves during the day with accompanying phenomena similar to Monday, from the afternoon onwards increasingly only east of the Danube. In the evening, late evening, thunderstorms may only occur in the northeast.

Update:

A third-level warning is in effect until midnight Monday due to the risk of more severe thunderstorms in Békés, Csongrád-Csanád, Hajdú-Bihar and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok counties. A second-level warning is in place in Bács-Kiskun, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Heves, Nógrád, Pest and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties. A first-level warning has been issued in counties east of the Danube due to the risk of thunderstorms.

Disaster management also drew attention to the dangers

Dániel Mukics, spokesperson for the National Directorate General for Disaster Management, recommended that everyone monitor weather forecasts and take the necessary safety measures. Before the arrival of the stormy wind, it is advisable to move objects that could be picked up by the wind indoors and to disconnect power from rooms that could be reached by water.

He asked that where warnings are in effect due to severe thunderstorms, people should pay close attention near trees, tree lines, and scaffolding, and that no one should park under power lines or trees, and that we should drive with due care near tree lines.

Those on the road are also advised to be careful; it is dangerous to cross high standing water, both by car and on foot, as flash floods pose a serious threat and can sweep people and objects away. If you are driving a car when a storm hits, you are advised to stop somewhere, or if that is not possible, at least slow down.

During a thunderstorm, you should avoid lookouts and electricity poles. Do not stand under trees or use umbrellas, and if you are struck by lightning in a forest, find a place that is at least 4-5 meters away from the tree trunks.

He also asked that anyone who sees a person in distress or a downed wire should call 112.

Firefighters were called to numerous locations, with trees down in several places.

Firefighters were alerted to more than five hundred locations in Transdanubia due to the storm until early Monday afternoon, the disaster management wrote on its website.

As they wrote, so far, firefighters have had to intervene most often in Veszprém, Fejér, Somogy, Komárom and Baranya counties, typically removing trees that have fallen on fences and buildings.

In Alsóőrs, a large tree fell on two cars, which also snapped a power line. Also in Alsóőrs, several trees fell on the beach and its surroundings, and in Csopak, a tree and three power poles fell, and a tree fell on a car here too. In Balatonalmádi, five trees fell on a camp area, and those staying there were taken to safety. Tree branches also fell on a parked car in Balatonkenese. In Kaposvár, a large walnut tree fell on a greenhouse in the yard of a residential building. On the Fejér County section of the M7 motorway, fallen tree branches are obstructing traffic near Polgárdi. In Pécs, large tree branches fell on parked cars, and at Villánykövesd, the railway section was blocked by fallen trees - they listed.

Firefighters are continuously working to eliminate storm damage, they emphasized.

The storm did not spare the main railway lines either, significant changes and replacement bus services are expected in several parts of the country. Furthermore, the storm also damaged the Liszt Ferenc International Airport, Budapest did not receive or take off flights on Monday afternoon.

Fallen trees disrupt traffic in the capital

Trees fallen due to strong winds are making traffic difficult in several districts of the capital, BKK Info announced on its social media page on Monday afternoon.

As they wrote:

• Instead of the H5 HÉV, a replacement bus runs between Szentendre and Békásmegyer, the HÉV runs between Csillaghegy and Aquincum on one track, on the track towards Szentendre;  
• The HÉV H8 runs between Mogyoród and Kerepes on one track, on the track towards Örs vezér tere;
• Instead of the 56, 56A and 61 trams, a replacement bus runs between Budagyöngye and Hűvösvölgy due to overcrowding, so it is also recommended to use the 29 and 129 buses; 
• The 12 and 14 trams do not run between Káposztásmegyer, Megyeri út, and Rákospalota, Kossuth utca and Rákospalota-Újpest railway station operates, they can travel on the missed section by a replacement bus;
• bus 32 is diverted, it does not stop at Forgách utca and Frangepán utca towards Örs vezér tere; 
• bus 243 is diverted, it does not stop at Pince köz;
• bus 297 is diverted, it does not stop at Pestvidék utca.

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