How the devastating 'Super El Nino' forming in the Pacific Ocean will directly impact UK
Football fans hearing about Super El Nino might be wondering if there's a new Fernando Torres emerging but while that would be a scary reality for Premier League defenders, the actual meaning is scarier for perhaps the whole planet.
In case you've missed it, the Super El Nino is a weather phenomenon which is emerging over the Pacific Ocean and scientists reckon it could lead to the warmest year on record in 2027.
Climate change has been a big problem for a while now and although us Brits might enjoy the warmer weather in the summer, it's causing chaos in other parts of the world.
The ice caps melting is perhaps the most talked about consequence of climate change, as that's contributing to rising sea levels, while extreme weather events such as droughts are also becoming far too common.
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If those things don't concern you, and you're only really bothered about how life in the UK might be affected, well there's some mixed news for you.
While countries in the west pacific such as Australia and Indonesia are likely to be drier than usual and more susceptible to forest fires, those in the east in South America are likely to be a lot wetter.
The impact in the UK will be less discernible at first and will likely lag behind the actual El Nino event, with the weather clearly deciding to follow in the footsteps of UK wages by lagging behind the rest of the world.
We might well see hotter weather during the summer, which we will probably find a way to complain about when we're all stuck inside sweltering offices and watching England struggle at the World Cup, but the biggest impact might actually be felt in the winter months.
And there's bad news on that front as it seems as if things will be even colder than usual, with those dark, wet and cold mornings already bad enough without the temperatures dropping a few degrees.
Climate scientists at the Met Office state "El Niño years are one factor that can increase the risk of colder winters in the UK".
Although we might not face the same struggles as other countries here in the UK and may only have hot and cold weather to complain about, the Super El Nino is no joke.
"El Niño refers to a sustained period of warmer‑than‑average sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean," the Met Office explains.
"It forms part of a natural cycle known as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, which alternates between warm (El Niño) and cool (La Niña) phases."
The strongest El Niño so far took place between 1997-1998 and, according to The Guardian, it killed 23,000 people and caused more than £20 billion in damages.
Topics: Weather, Global Warming, Environment
James Moorhouse