Scientists say the powerful weather pattern is building in the Pacific Ocean and could trigger extreme heat across the globe over the coming months
Britain is set to fry in a 40C scorcher this summer but forecasters predict a “super El Niño” could send temperatures soaring even higher next year.
Scientists say the powerful weather pattern is building in the Pacific Ocean and could trigger extreme heat across the globe over the coming months.
The Met Office says there is already a 40% chance that this summer could rival the record-breaking heat of 2022 when Britain topped 40C for the first time.
And boffs believe there is now an 82% chance of a “very strong” El Niño developing this year, according to forecasts including the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Climate Specialist Jeff Berardelli warned: “I think we’re going to see weather events that we’ve never seen in modern history before.”
Professor Mark Maslin, of University College London, added: “It’s fair to call this a super El Niño,” predicting it could become one of the strongest ever recorded.
El Niño happens when huge amounts of heat are released from the Pacific Ocean into the atmosphere.
The phenomenon usually strikes every few years and can push up global temperatures from autumn into the following summer.
It means next summer could be even hotter than this year’s forecasted record breaker.
Previous El Niño events have wreaked havoc on food production worldwide, ruining Russia ’s wheat harvest in 2010 and damaging coffee crops in Brazil.
When Britain hit 40C in July 2022, thousands more heat-related deaths were recorded among older people and massive fires destroyed homes in east London.
But climate expert Professor Friederike Otto, of Imperial College London, said: “El Niño is a natural phenomenon. It comes and goes.
“Climate change, on the contrary, gets worse as long as we do not stop burning fossil fuels. So climate change is the reason to freak out.”