The Hungarian government fired the heads of the meteorology institute because there were no fireworks due to their weather forecast

St. Stefan is celebrated every year in Hungary as the anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian state over a thousand years ago. This holiday is especially important for the Hungarian right wing, which is celebrating it very loudly.

This year, the Hungarian government announced a fireworks show on Saturday evening in Budapest, which was to be the largest show of its kind in the history of Europe. The show was canceled, however, because the National Meteorological Service (the equivalent of the Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management) predicted massive storms with rain on Saturday evening in the Hungarian capital.

There were no storms, however, and not a single drop of rain fell. Of course, there was no fireworks show either.

On Monday, the Minister of Technology Lazlo Palkovics, who is responsible for the Meteo Service, immediately fired the Director of the Service, Cornelia Radics, and her deputy for weather forecasting, Gyula Horvath. Palkovics did not give any reasons for his dismissal, but on Sunday the Service published an official statement apologizing for an incorrect forecast, explaining that “uncertainty is always a factor in our forecasts”.

Caution related to the weather on St. Stefan did not come out of nowhere – several years ago, during this holiday, a violent storm hit Budapest, killing and injuring several people.