The UK has been battered this weekend by two consecutive storms, which continue to leave thousands without power and disrupt key infrastructure.
Storm Boelo has entered its second day, bringing gusts of up to 80mph in parts of Scotland and prompting the Met Office to issue a series of weather warnings.
Before it, Storm Austen soaked much of the country on Friday and brought power outages, wind speeds of a staggering 110mph, and travel disruptions.
And with a so-called super El Niño threatening to wreak havoc internationally, experts have warned there could be more weather chaos to come.
Scientists have warned the incoming super El Niño – nicknamed a ‘Godzilla’ El Niño – could be the most severe on record.
Already, devastating fires and floods have been observed across the world as a result of the phenomenon – and it could soon have an impact on the UK.
What is El Niño and why is this one so bad?
An El Niño occurs when surface waters in the Pacific Ocean warm above 0.5C. The more they warm, the more severe the El Niño is.
This year, temperatures have already warmed by 3.5C, and with the weather event set to peak in December, experts warn it could increase by as much as 4C.
Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organisation, said on Wednesday: ‘This is literally off the monitoring charts that we have used for the past four decades.
‘El Niño will peak towards the end of 2026 but its impacts will be felt long after that.’
The weather event is expected to end in March, but will have significant impacts on the globe for much longer.
The El Niño event could cause more than 450,000 heat deaths between June 2026 and February 2027.
What does this mean for the UK?
The UK is nowhere near the Pacific Ocean, but that doesn’t mean we won’t feel the effects of El Niño.
Metro previously reported that Londoners had been advised to stockpile food in case of severe weather events this winter.
El Niño can disrupt the Arctic polar vortex – the winds that circle the North Pole.
This may allow colder air to drift southwards towards into Europe and North America, potentially bringing heavy snow.
The effect also ‘heightens the potential’ for wet weather, stormy conditions and flooding.
Met Office forecasters said the weakening of the polar vortex can cause cold north and north easterly winds to outcompete the usual warmer North Atlantic drift which influences the UK climate.
‘The El Niño event is still developing in the tropical Pacific and already it has surpassed the magnitude of previous events including the one in 2015/16,’ Met Office climate spokesperson Grahame Madge said.
‘Globally, an El Niño event has several impacts, including altering rainfall patterns and increasing global temperature overall.’
Meanwhile Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Friday: ‘We potentially are facing a winter of greater flooding, so it’s about recognising all of those risks and taking action.’
But the biggest risk to the UK is the effect El Niño could have on supply chains, potentially affecting our access to chocolate, coffee and sugar.