El Niño typically brings drier conditions to Southeast Asia, Australia, southern Africa and northern Brazil
A potentially record-breaking El Niño could make 2027 the hottest year on record, with Britain’s Met Office forecasting the strongest such event in more than a century and warning of severe droughts and extreme rainfall in parts of the world. The weather agency said the El Niño is expected to intensify over the coming months, potentially pushing Pacific Ocean temperatures more than 3°C above the norm. Pacific waters are currently around 2.6°C above a rolling 30-year average, according to the Climate Brink dashboard, which uses data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Forecasts aggregated by the dashboard suggest the temperature anomaly could peak at around 3.9°C in November, well above the more than 3°C anomaly recorded during the strong 2015 El Niño. El Niño occurs when sea-surface temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific rise at least 0.5°C above the baseline.
Adam Scaife, head of long-range forecasting at the Met Office, said the agency was expecting an exceptionally strong event. “We are expecting the biggest El Nino for over a century, peaking at something over three degrees — that is unheard of in modern climate records,” Scaife told the BBC. India is already seeing below-normal rainfall as the weather pattern develops. The resulting changes in atmospheric circulation could have far-reaching effects on weather patterns across the globe. scientists say climate change can amplify its effects While it is part of a natural climate cycle.