Hungary's climate is temperate, and the country can be divided into three climatic zones: Mediterranean in the south, Continental in the east, and Atlantic in the west. In Southern Transdanubia, summers are long and winters mild and wet. The Great Plain has the most extreme seasonal differences, with cold, windy winters and hot, usually dry summers. In Budapest and Western Transdanubia summers can be very hot; winters are relatively short and often cloudy, althought sometimes they can be brilliantly sunny. January is the coldest month, getting down somewhere around -2°C (28.4°F), and July the hottest, hovering around 28°C (82.4°F).

Geography

Hungary is a kidney-shaped country lying in the centre of Europe; it shares borders with seven neighbours: Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia & Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia. There are three basic topographies: the low-lying regions of the Great Plain in the east, centre and southeast, and the Little Plain in the northwest; the northern mountain ranges, which include Hungary's highest peak (the 1015m/3330ft-high Kékesteto); and the hilly regions of Transdanubia in the west and south-west. The biggest rivers are the Danube and the Tisza, which divide the country into thirds, and the Dráva, which forms the southwestern border with Croatia. The country has over 1000 lakes - the largest, Balaton, is strewn with thermal springs.