The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday that this year’s El Niño will intensify, peak in December and almost certainly last until February 2027.
WMO Secretary General Celeste Saulo said in a statement that the forecasts show a near-100 percent likelihood that El Niño will persist through February 2027, and it could be one of the strongest since at least 1950.
The WMO said sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific are expected to reach a record 3.7 degrees Celsius above normal from October to December. The previous record was 2.6C, from November 2015 to January 2016.
El Niño is the warm phase of a natural climate cycle. It tends to raise global temperatures and disrupt rainfall, bringing drought in some regions and heavy rain in others.
Changes in rainfall patterns can affect farming and water supplies in South Asia, including Sri Lanka.
