First Snow of the Season

The title isn't strictly true as I saw snow back in November in Komló in the south of Hungary back in November, but this was the first snow I saw in Budapest this winter. It was literally freezing on Saturday and the bitter winds brought in a light sprinkling of snow. It dusted the cobbles in front of the basilica for a few hours and then was gone.

I keep telling people who ask me about the summers and winters in Budapest that summer gets very hot and winter very cold. When they ask about snow, (the questions are usually coming from people living in the south of England), I reply yes, without fail there is snow. Even in the capital there tends to be quite a bit of snow that looks great at first but is then churned into grey slush by the people and cars.

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This year, I foolishly promised my niece that she is bound to see snow when she pops over in February. Then it turns out that this winter has been the hottest for the last 1,000 years. What are the odds? A thousand to one perhaps.

The "hottest year in 1,000 years" line sounds faintly familiar, but I guess if it is getting hotter each year then they can trot out that line all the time.

I was glad to see the snow at the weekend, even if it did only hang around for a few hours. It means there's a small glimmer of hope that I won't break my promise. This morning the temperature is about 5C at my window, the wind is howling but the sun is shining. As my bosses would say, "ratfarts".


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