ISLAMABAD: The chairman of Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) warned on Wednesday that the 2026 monsoon season is expected to be more intense in the country, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed authorities to start preparations immediately for a potential crisis next year.
Pakistan suffered a deadly monsoon season this year, which saw over 1,000 people killed due to heavy rains and floods since late June. Deadly floods in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province in late August killed over 130, affected over 4.5 million people and washed away large swathes of crops across the province.
Experts attribute Pakistan’s irregular weather patterns, which include floods, droughts and heatwaves to climate change. Pakistan is counted among the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change effects, where authorities say nearly 4,600 people have been killed in floods since 2010.
“We think in the coming days, the 2026 monsoon is expected to be 22-26% more intense compared to this year’s monsoon,” NDMA Chairman Lt. Gen. Inam Haider Malik told reporters at a news conference.
Malik said this meant glaciers would melt earlier next year or in higher quantity, pointing out that glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and deluges were observed in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region, Punjab and the southern Sindh province during 2025.
