This year's El Nino set to be strongest in more than a century, UK forecasters say

This year's El Nino weather pattern will be the biggest in over a century, warming sea surface temperatures to an "unheard-of" level, Britain's national weather agency predicted Friday. The El Nino weather pattern is declared when sea temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific rise 0.5C above the baseline average, triggering worldwide changes in winds, atmospheric pressure and rainfall patterns, and causing warmer global temperatures overall. Adam Scaife, head of long-range forecasting at the Met Office, told the BBC that: "We are expecting the biggest El Nino for over a century, peaking at something over three degrees – that is unheard-of in modern climate records." He called it "an unprecedented event", adding that "I have never seen an El Nino signal this intense in our forecasts." Watch moreExtreme heat: 'We're really starting now to understand how global climate is impacting our health' The anomalous warmth, which is "up to nearly two degrees already", will have particularly strong effects throughout the Tropics, Scaife said, "where we expect really severe droughts in places like South America, and the West Pacific". 'Long-term, persistent conditions' Temperatures in the reg...