Scorching heat, drought hit Hungary, causing heavy crop losses

Extreme heat and worsening drought conditions have swept across Hungary, causing water levels in its major rivers to sharply decline, with crops suffering severe damage and losses.

According to official data, the water volume of the Tisza River, one of Hungary’s main rivers, has decreased by 60 percent, while the Danube River’s water level has dropped by 40 percent.

"There are two key issues at play. First, this summer in Hungary has been significantly hotter than previous years. Temperatures used to hover around 30-32 degrees Celsius, but now they commonly reach 35-38 degrees Celsius, sometimes even 40 degrees Celsius. All of this is due to the lack of rainfall. With no rainfall, the soil and plants sucked all available water from the ground and evaporated it to cool themselves, leading to an extremely critical situation," said Katalin Allacherné Szépkuthy, head of advisory team at the Hungarian Research Institute of Organic Agriculture.

HungaroMet's June 2025 agrometeorological report highlights extreme drought across large areas of Hungary. In central and southeastern regions of the country, rainfall since March has been 40-100 mm below average. Topsoil moisture is below 20 percent in most areas, with corn and sunflower leaves curling, and even early-harvested barley is suffering.

"The drought is so severe that I couldn't harvest any grain at all. The issue isn't just the lack of rain -- it's also the extremely high temperatures. The combination of these two factors has had a devastating impact on crops," said Danny Maria, a Hungarian farmer.

The Hungarian government has established task forces to distribute resources where needed, committing 10 billion Hungarian forints (about 30 million U.S. dollars) to supply free irrigation water to farmers.

Currently, heatwaves have hit large parts of Europe, with temperatures reaching record highs in many cities.

Scorching heat, drought hit Hungary, causing heavy crop losses

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing said Tuesday that China is willing to collaborate with all parties to ensure nuclear energy better supports the development and prosperity of all nations.

Zhang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during the second Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris which he attended as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative.

Zhang said China has always adhered to a sensible, coordinated, and balanced nuclear security strategy proposed by President Xi and has made concrete contributions to promoting the global development of nuclear energy.

China is willing to work with all parties to jointly implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative, and promote nuclear energy innovation-driven development, safety foundation building, industrial collaboration and win-win cooperation, so that nuclear energy can better benefit the development and prosperity of all countries, he said.

Zhang noted that China stands ready to join hands with all parties to make new contributions in building a clean, beautiful and sustainable world and a community with a shared future for humanity.

Heads of state, government leaders and senior representatives from over 30 countries, as well as heads of relevant international organizations, attended the summit and issued a joint statement titled "Safe and affordable nuclear energy for all."

Chinese vice premier calls for global nuclear cooperation