Strongest El Niño ‘in living memory’ to batter UK with autumn storms and ‘record-breaking’ summers, warns Met Office

THE UK is set to face the strongest El Niño “in living memory”, the Met Office has warned. The nation can expect to experience more storms, rainfall and flooding this autumn and winter. More and stronger storms are set to hit the UK this winter Credit: Owen Humphreys/ PA Wire Brits are set to face another winter of storms and heavy rain Credit: EPA Met Office analysts have warned that current El Niño forecasts are set to “far exceed” past events, with its peak expected to be reached in the winter months. El Niño is a natural phenomenon which occurs every two to seven years, where ocean surface temperatures become unusually warm in the central and eastern Pacific. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! As a result, weather patterns can become disrupted, with the effects often peaking during December. Although it brings warmer weather to some countries, El Niño can cause storms, flooding and cold winters in the UK, as well as summer heat waves. Professor Adam Scaife, head of long range forecasting at the Met Office, said he had “never seen an El Niño signal this intense in our forecasts”. “A typical El Niño leads to an equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperature rise of between 1-2 degrees, with 2C being a really big event.” This means the UK may begin to experience wetter and stormier weather in the coming autumn and early winter months. Experts have also warned of increased risk of flooding, as seen in the winter of 2016 which also coincided with a very strong El Niño event. Most read in The Sun On a global scale, southern Africa and Australia are expected to experience an increased risk of drought, while India has recorded rainfall levels far below normal. This is because “during large El Niño events significantly more heat is released from the ocean to the atmosphere”, according to Dr Nick Dunstone. As a result, he believes that next year may be “very likely” to replace 2024 as the warmest year on record” and could “temporarily exceed +1.5 C above the preindustrial period”. Comment now