Met Office warns El Nino could top 3C and make 2027 hottest year
Why it matters: Forecasters expect stronger drought risks in parts of South America and the western Pacific, with weaker Atlantic hurricanes.
The UK Met Office warned that the El Nino developing over the Pacific Ocean could become the strongest in living memory, with sea-surface warming rising above 3C later this year. Current readings are already more than 2C above normal in a key part of the tropical eastern Pacific, far above the 0.5C threshold used to define El Nino. The agency said the event, combined with human-driven climate change, makes it very likely that 2027 will become the hottest year ever recorded globally. Forecasters also pointed to likely disruptions in rainfall and storm patterns, including severe drought in parts of South America and the western Pacific, below-average monsoon rains in India and a wetter, stormier autumn in the UK.