Record Breaking El Nino Set To Reshape Global Weather

The 2026 El Niño has already exceeded all previous records weeks before its expected peak later this year, the Met Office has warned, with forecasters projecting wetter and stormier conditions across the UK this autumn and winter and a likely record-breaking global temperature in 2027. Professor Adam Scaife, the Met Office's head of long-range prediction, said the agency had been signalling for months that the developing El Niño would be an unprecedented event. "The fact that it has already exceeded previous records with several weeks to go before it peaks later this year shows the enormity of this El Niño," Scaife said, adding that scientists are still assessing whether the impacts will be in proportion to its magnitude. The Met Office's latest three-month outlook indicates that the chances of the UK experiencing a warm and wet autumn are around two times higher than typically expected, with stormier conditions predicted to develop later in autumn and into early winter. When the El Niño reaches its peak in winter, forecasters say there is an increased risk of cold snaps and flooding, though long-range forecasts cannot yet determine where these are most likely to occur.