El Niño is surging. Months of extreme heat could follow

Fuelled by exceptionally warm Pacific waters, the El Niño climate pattern is intensifying and has yet to peak. Forecasters are almost certain it will persist through February 2027 – with unusually warm conditions expected across much of the world in the coming months.El Niño is strengthening rapidly in the Pacific Ocean, raising the prospect of months of extreme heat, floods, drought, and disruptive weather around the globe.The phenomenon, already firmly established, is expected to become “very strong” and peak around the end of the year, according to new forecasts from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).The likelihood that El Niño will persist through February 2027 is now close to 100 per cent. Never before has the UN weather agency issued such an unequivocal forecast for El Niño or its cooler counterpart, La Niña.A supersize problemAnd beneath the surface of the tropical Pacific lies another cause for concern. An enormous reservoir of unusually warm water that could continue feeding El Niño in the months ahead.In some parts of the Pacific, subsurface temperatures in July and early August were more than eight degrees Celsius (around 14 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal.The...