Regarding the River Leitha, surrounding areas were successfully protected throughout a 10-hour peak, and the situation is improving, he said.

As regards the River Danube, reports on Friday morning show the flood peak in the area of Komárom, in the north-west. The Danube water recession is expected to be slow, he added.

On Thursday 614 km of rivers were under defense, and now this has risen to 754 km, with the most urgent level of defense readiness at 114km.

Over the weekend, the task will be to maintain preparedness and “constant vigilance”, Orban said after the meeting of the operative body for flood protection. He called on lawmakers, volunteers, and mayors to organize patrols to monitor the situation.

“The hardest in times like these is to maintain vigilance when one feels the worst is behind one,” he said.

While flood protection efforts have so far focused on the stretch of the Danube upstream from Budapest, work has now started in the south too, on Báta, Dunaszekcső, and Baja, he said.