Hungary issues “code red” in two regions for cold and icy winds

The Hungarian Meteorological Institute expects lows of -15 Celsius in some parts of the country through Sunday, with heavy snowfalls on both Saturday and Sunday.

“A code red is in effect as of 20:00 hours for the Northern and Northern Plains region. (…) Code red is primarily meant to increase attentiveness of social services workers in very cold weather, but is also a signal to the population to contact emergency services when they see people in trouble,” EMMI state minister for social affairs Attila Fülöp wrote on his Facebook page.

The “code red” for cold weather was instituted by the government in 2017 – its primary stipulation is that under this warning, all live-in social institutions must take in homeless people in case homeless shelters are full.