This summer was Hungary’s driest on record and the second hottest since 1901, according to an analysis published by HungaroMet on Monday.
The national average temperature for the summer was 23.43 degrees Celsius, 2.59 degrees above the 1991–2020 average of 20.84 degrees. This made 2026 the second-hottest summer since the beginning of the 20th century, although in many parts of northern Hungary it was the hottest summer ever recorded.
The record for the hottest summer remains with 2024, when the seasonal average reached 23.58 degrees.
All three summer months were warmer than average. June was 2.7 degrees above its 1991–2020 average, July was 1.3 degrees warmer, and August was 3.7 degrees warmer. June was the second-hottest June on record, while July ranked tenth. August was the hottest August and the hottest individual month recorded in Hungary since 1901.
Several intense heatwaves affected the country, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius on multiple days. Hungary’s absolute temperature record was also broken on 30 June, when 42.0 degrees was measured in Szécsény, northern Hungary.
Average summer temperatures exceeded 23 degrees across most lowland areas, while they generally surpassed 24 degrees in the central and southern Great Plain. Temperatures below 20 degrees were recorded only at higher elevations in the Northern Hungarian Mountains.
Alongside the prolonged heat, all three summer months were exceptionally dry, making 2026 the driest summer in Hungary since the beginning of the 20th century.
Preliminary data put total summer precipitation at just 74.1 millimetres on a national average, equivalent to 36 per cent of the 1991–2020 average of 203.3 millimetres. This was nearly 30 millimetres below the previous record low of 101.3 millimetres, recorded in the summer of 1952.
Rainfall was substantially below average in all three months. June received 45 per cent less precipitation than usual, while July and August each recorded 74 per cent less than their respective 1991–2020 averages. Nationally, July was the fifth-driest and August the fourth-driest month of their kind since the beginning of the 20th century.
Almost 60 per cent of Hungary experienced record-dry conditions during the summer. Even near the southwestern border, where rainfall was relatively higher, only small areas received as much as 150 millimetres of precipitation.
Parts of northeastern Hungary and the mountainous regions still recorded more than 100 millimetres, but less than 60 millimetres was typical across much of the country. In the central regions, many weather stations recorded less than 40 millimetres for the entire summer.
Hungary recorded 87 summer days this year, defined as days when the daily maximum temperature reaches at least 25 degrees Celsius, compared with an average of 65.
There were also 52 hot days, when temperatures reached at least 30 degrees, compared with the usual 26 days.
The country recorded 18 very hot days, defined by maximum temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius. This was 15 more than the long-term average and the highest number recorded since the beginning of the 20th century.
Rainfall of at least one millimetre was recorded nationally on 14 days during the summer, compared with a usual figure of 26 days.
HungaroMet also reported the seasonal extremes. The highest temperature, 42.0 degrees Celsius, was measured in Szécsény in Nógrád County on 30 June. The lowest temperature, 3.9 degrees, was recorded in Szikszó, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, on 9 July.
The highest seasonal rainfall total was recorded in Barcs, Somogy County, at 230.5 millimetres, while the lowest was measured in Nagykőrös, Pest County, at just 19.6 millimetres.
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