T-72 battle tanks trundled along icy roads, while thousands of people waited in cars on the M1 motorway from Budapest to Vienna.
Many had been stuck on the road since Thursday evening.
As Hungary was celebrating its national holiday on Friday many people were travelling when the extreme weather struck.
A series of accidents on the M1 trapped travellers as the snow built up around them.
On Friday afternoon, Hungarian interior ministry sent text messages to all mobile phone subscribers, telling people to stay in their cars as long as their fuel lasted, then move to other vehicles to stay warm.Meteorologists had predicted the cold weather but the sheer number of people trapped in the snow appears to have overwhelmed disaster management services.
Wind gusts of up to 100 km/h (60 mph) and snowdrifts up to 1 m (3 ft) high were reported. The wind is forecast to drop significantly while freezing temperatures will continue.
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