When will El Niño peak and end? A full timeline of the weather phenomenon taking the world by storm
Meteorological data indicates that the current El Niño event is strengthening and could become the largest in recorded history by 2026. Experts warn that this phenomenon will likely lead to extreme weather patterns, including droughts and floods.
Why it matters
The severity of this climate event poses significant risks to global food security, infrastructure, and disaster management efforts.
2026 will go down in history for what could become the largest El Niño in living memory, as the world scrambles to prepare for an onslaught of extreme weather. The natural weather phenomenon (Spanish for ‘the boy’) occurs irregularly – roughly every two to seven years – when sea temperatures in the Eastern Pacific Ocean become unusually warm. Experts first started warning that a strong El Niño could form at the beginning of this year, supported by large amounts of heat in the subsurface ocean and the expected weakening of low-level trade winds.In the first week of June, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that El Niño conditions were officially underway.
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