Super El Niño timeline speeds up with 'Monster El Niño' tipped to arrive before end of year

The ongoing 'Super El Niño' event is expected to bring extreme weather to our doors sooner than initially expected, as the climate phenomenon may be the strongest on record.

Confirmed to be happening back in June, El Niño is a weather event which occurs when ocean temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific become unusually warm, disrupting the wider climate.

Previous El Niño events have been linked to droughts and floods in different regions over the years – and this event could see the extreme weather brought on quicker than originally predicted.

According to an update shared by former CBS meteorologist Jeff Berardelli, who predicted that the ongoing El Niño appears to be 'overachieving'.

"We’re headed for uncharted territory," Berardelli wrote in a recent update on X.

Referencing a visual which shows projections of temperatures in the Pacific Ocean rising as much as 9°C above average as it reaches Southern America, Berardelli added that El Niño is predicted to peak 'at historic levels' around the end of the year.

"We are already technically in a Super El Niño, and this cross section tells us it’s reloading and has a lot more gas left in the tank," he continued. "El Niño will likely peak around December at historic levels and power a very intense subtropical jet stream across the Southern US.

"It’s going to be a very active winter in #Florida and the Southeast. Given all this it’s no exaggeration to say this is a monster El Niño, because it’s shaping up to be far stronger than any we’ve witnessed."

Berardelli isn't the only expert forecasting that the ongoing El Niño will be a particularly strong one, with Berkeley Earth climate scientist Zeke Hausfather telling Nature this event is projected to surpass previous El Niños by 'a mind-blowing margin'.

He added that it is 'not outside the realm of possibility' that this El Niño could also contribute to global temperatures rising by an average of 1.7°C across 2027.

"90 percent of models say this will be a 'historic event', Berardelli previously told The Independent.

"An event so intense it doesn’t exist in our approximately 175-year record. And the models show big impacts worldwide."

What impact will the 2026 El Niño have on the UK?

According to Met Office spokesperson Nicky Maxey, El Niños impact on the UK will be 'indirect', telling LADbible back in May: "Its impacts here in the UK are typically indirect, but it can increase the likelihood of more unsettled conditions later in the year, including a higher chance of wetter weather during autumn and early winter."

Which means we're likely in for an absolute washout of an autumn and winter.

There is also the risk of El Niño having a knock-on effect on global food chains, with Jim Dale, founder of British Weather Services, previously explaining to The Mirror that common household items could soon go up in price.

"Everything from bananas to coffee, sugar, tea, cocoa, all of those are going to be under pressure going forward," he said.

"You can expect shelves of various products, particularly fruit, veg and other items, either to be sky-high prices or not available at all into the future."