On Thursday, the River Danube overflowed in Budapest, reaching its highest water levels in a decade. The surge resulted from a combination of heavy rain and snow, followed by mild weather, causing unexpectedly early winter floods.
According to Hungary’s General Directorate for Water Management, the Danube reached its peak at 6.93 meters late on Wednesday.Â
This level was below the 8.91 meters recorded in 2013 when widespread flooding in Central Europe ensued after heavy rains in late May.
Although the current flooding along the Danube in Budapest hasn’t led to significant damage this year, experts have warned that the increasing impact of climate change might result in more frequent occurrences of early floods.
“If we look at the bigger picture, we can see that winter precipitation is growing and with the rise of temperatures we will see less snowfall plus it can melt earlier,” said climate researcher Anna Kis, who works for the “1.5 degrees” climate project.
“Thus we can assume that in the future the floods caused by snow melting that used to occur in the spring could happen earlier, possibly during the winter months.”
According to the water authority, the Danube’s water level surpassing 6 meters in December hasn’t occurred since 1987, and during that time, it did not lead to flooding on the embankment roads.
“There was a great amount of rainfall in the tributaries of the Danube and snow melted due to the mild but wet weather, so the flood came earlier,” it said, adding that renewed flooding in the spring could not be excluded.
Budapest residents strolled along the river in the sunshine, relishing the uncommon spectacle of waves lapping against the embankment beneath the parliament building.
“I remember big floods but not in December. In December the Danube used to freeze. I remember times when I was very young and the ice around the Chain Bridge had to be broken up with explosions,” said Miklos, who declined to give his family name.
