El Niño is surging. Months of extreme heat could follow
The UN has warned that the current El Niño climate pattern is intensifying and is expected to persist through February 2027. This event, fueled by record-high ocean temperatures, is likely to cause extreme weather conditions globally.
Why it matters
The persistence of this climate event poses significant risks to global food security, infrastructure, and public safety due to extreme heat and flooding.
Fuelled by exceptionally warm Pacific waters, the El Niño climate pattern is intensifying and has yet to peak. Forecasters are almost certain it will persist through February 2027 – with unusually warm conditions expected across much of the world in the coming months.
El Niño is strengthening rapidly in the Pacific Ocean, raising the prospect of months of extreme heat, floods, drought, and disruptive weather around the globe .
The phenomenon, already firmly established, is expected to become “very strong” and peak around the end of the year, according to new forecasts from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) .
The likelihood that El Niño will persist through February 2027 is now close to 100 per cent. Never before has the UN weather agency issued such an unequivocal forecast for El Niño or its cooler counterpart, La Niña .
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