Extreme weather
June 11, 2026, 5:17 p.mJune 11, 2026, 5:17 p.m
It has been apparent for months, and now the US weather agency NOAA is announcing certainty: the climate phenomenon El Niño is back. There is a risk of more heat waves, droughts and floods.
El Niño brings more droughts.Image: keystone
The El Niño weather phenomenon is back. “El Niño conditions are present and are expected to continue to intensify in the northern hemisphere into the winter of 2026/27,” said the US weather agency NOAA.
With unusually high sea temperatures in the tropical Pacific, the regularly recurring weather phenomenon had been announced for months. This is accompanied by concerns about more extreme weather with droughts, floods and a possible record-breaking global average temperature in the near future.
The probability that it could be a “very strong” El Niño event, one of the strongest since records began in 1950, is currently 63 percent, NOAA said.
Most recently El Niño in 2023/24
The weather phenomenon that occurs naturally every two to seven years was last seen in 2023/24. This was one of the five strongest El Niños on record and contributed to 2024 being the hottest year since industrialization (1850-1900) in terms of global average temperature.
An El Niño exacerbates the consequences of man-made climate change. The effects are particularly felt in regions in the southern hemisphere with droughts and floods. For Europe, the consequences are limited. (hkl/sda/dpa)