BUDAPEST: Hungary’s sole nuclear power plant could shut down this weekend, days earlier than predicted, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said Saturday, as a sweltering heatwave strains energy systems across central Europe. National weather service HungaroMet forecast highs of over 40C over coming days. A 42C peak predicted for Thursday would match the national temperature record set earlier this summer.

One of the plant’s four reactors was previously shut down due to a record drop in the water level of the Danube River

The plant uses water from the river for cooling. According to the Prime Minister, this would not threaten the security of the country's power supply.