The head of Hungary’s national weather service has been sacked for getting a forecast wrong and spoiling a fireworks display.
Kornelia Radics, head of the Hungarian National Meteorological Service (NMS) was fired, along with her deputy Gyula Horvath two days after a major fireworks display was delayed for fear of storms.
The NMS had forecast thunderstorms and high winds in Budapest, Hungary’s capital.
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As a result the organisers of a fireworks display along the banks of the Danube to celebrate the country’s State Foundation Day on Saturday decided to call it off .
However, the promised storms didn’t materialise, meaning the show was cancelled for nothing. The NMS agency issued an official apology on Sunday, saying there was “a factor of uncertainty inherent in the profession”.
Hungarian news site Origo accused the agency of giving “misleading information about the extent of the bad weather, which misled the operation team responsible for security”.
The display was already controversial. The main opposition party had already called for it to be cancelled, saying it was “a useless waste of money” at a time when the country’s economy is struggling, and when Ukraine is at war.
A petition backing the opposition motion collected over 200,000 signatures.
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A certain amount of caution on the part of the weather forecasters was natural enough. In 2006, the State Foundation Day festivities were hit by a violent storm that killed five and injured several hundred more.
The display has been rescheduled for later this week. The weather outlook for Budapest is expected to remain fine.
BBC weather forecaster Michael Fish never quite lived down his predictions before the Great Storm of 1987 that claimed 18 lives, flattened 15million trees and caused £1.5billion worth of damage.
He infamously told the nation "don't worry, there isn't a hurricane on the way…"
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