As nations across Southern Europe and parts of the US face temperatures topping 40C, El Nino conditions are building in the Pacific that bring a chance of a record-breaking event that will see more sweltering heat.
Last month saw a “weak” El Nino form, a periodic climatic event around the warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific, which can cause knock-on heat around the world. But an update from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) on Thursday said that it will almost certainly strengthen throughout the year, with an 81 per cent chance it will peak with a “moderate to strong intensity” between November and January. There is a one in five chance that this event will be of “historic” strength, rivalling the major one experienced in 1997, Noaa said.
