World

Met Office warns El Niño could be strongest in over a century

The British Met Office announces that the ongoing El Niño could be the most intense ever observed, leading to significant climate changes.

21 August 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

AI-generatedWritten by an AI system, editorially responsible — how we work

Archive photo: Met Office warns El Niño could be strongest in over a century — Archive photoPhoto: NOAA. · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

The British Met Office has stated that the current El Niño could be the strongest in over a century. Experts emphasize that this climatic phenomenon is being intensified by human-induced global warming.

Forecasts suggest that the magnitude of El Niño could lead to unprecedented sea surface temperatures. This could make 2027 the hottest year ever recorded globally.

Scientists explain that El Niño is declared when sea temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific rise 0.5 °C above the baseline average. This triggers changes in winds, atmospheric pressure, and precipitation patterns globally, generally leading to an increase in global temperatures.

The impacts of the phenomenon are expected to be particularly pronounced around the Tropics, with forecasts indicating severe droughts in South America and the western Pacific. The effects will be felt as far as Europe.

Experts from the Met Office have warned that the phenomenon may be particularly challenging to predict in terms of its scope and effects, urging the scientific community to prepare for significant climate changes.

The Met Office has also specified that it will closely monitor the evolution of El Niño in the coming months in order to better document its impacts on global climate conditions.

This item was written by an AI system on the basis of the headlines and short teasers of the independently operating newsrooms named below. We disclose this under Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act). Before publication we check origin and verifiability — anything that appears in only one place is not published — as well as language, substance and legally sensitive content. No separate substantive review of each individual item by a natural person takes place; we therefore do not rely on the exemption in Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of the AI Act. Editorial responsibility for this publication rests with the person named in the imprint (§ 18 Abs. 2 MStV). Please report errors to [email protected] — we will correct or remove the item. Full reports are available from the sources listed.