The extreme weather in Hungary

The extreme weather of the past weekend in Hungary points out the importance of stormwater management and extensive surface runoff. As the second raingarden facility has been put into operation in Koprivnica, Croatia, the Sponge City project aims at contributing to the mitigation of the extreme hydrological behaviour on the day of International Nature Conservation Day (July 28). To illustrate the extremities of this year’s weather, the month of June, which is usually the wettest month of the year in Hungary, was extremely dry (e.g. the monthly total was 6 mm in Pécs) with serious droughts in many parts of the country. On the contrary, in the village of Csököly in SW Hungary received a precipitation of 178 mm in a period of 60 minutes on July 27, 2025. Three weeks earlier, on July 7, 2025, a hailstorm and extreme winds devastated the town of Balatonfüred, in the NE part of Lake Balaton, destroying many sailboats competing in the Blue Ribbon Race.