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There is an 80 per cent chance of the warming El Niño phenomenon developing between June and August, increasing the risk of extreme weather events, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Tuesday.
“Fuelled by unusually warm ocean waters in the tropical Pacific, El Niño conditions are developing and are set to influence global temperature and rainfall patterns,” the United Nations’ weather and climate agency said.
Forecasts from the WMO global network “indicate a pronounced shift toward El Niño conditions, with probabilities reaching 80pc for June-August”, the Geneva-based organisation said.
El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, bringing worldwide changes in winds, pressure and rainfall patterns.
