LONDON, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Britain’s Met Office national weather forecaster on Friday said the developing El Niño weather pattern was likely to be the strongest in living memory.
El Niño is a periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific caused by weakening trade winds. It occurs naturally every two to seven years and tends to last between nine and 12 months. Its effect on weather globally can threaten crops around the world.
• 2026 is going to be renowned for the development of the largest El Niño in living memory and what is probably the largest such event since the 19th century, the Met Office said.
• The Met Office said 2027 was very likely to replace 2024 as the warmest year on record.
• Their latest forecasts showed a more than 3 degrees Celsius rise in equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperatures later this year.
• A typical El Niño causes a rise of 1 C to 2 C, with 2 C considered a major event.
• “This implies that if the forecast is accurate — and other forecast systems show similar extreme values — then 2026 will far exceed our recent experience of El Niño and its worldwide climate influences,” said Adam Scaife, head of long range forecasting.
(Reporting by William James; Editing by Kate Holton)
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