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Met Office chief warns 'super El Niño' is the biggest weather event in 100 years and is set to kill 450,000 people worldwide

From the Newshound archive · first published 22 September 2026 · last updated 24 September 2026.

Sea surface temperatures have already hit 3.05°C above the 1991–2020 average, surpassing the previous record before the event has even peaked.
Sea surface temperatures have already hit 3.05°C above the 1991–2020 average, surpassing the previous record before the event has even peaked.

A Met Office chief has declared the current El Niño the strongest on record, with sea surface temperatures in the central-eastern Pacific already smashing the previous record set in 2015. Professor Adam Scaife, Head of Long Range Prediction at the Met Office, warns the UK faces deeper pressure, more rainfall and more storms from autumn. Climate Impact Lab researchers project an additional 451,000 heat-related deaths worldwide in the six months to February, on top of the toll already driven by climate change. Australia alone faces an estimated 260 extra deaths, with nearly half expected in New South Wales.

The El Niño already exceeded all previous temperature records for the phenomenon this week, months before its expected peak.

Professor Scaife warned of drought threatening the Amazon, no Atlantic hurricanes forming, and drought in both India and Panama as early signs of global disruption.

Researchers say the scorching conditions resemble temperatures climate change would normally deliver 20 years from now, calling it a 'postcard from the future'.

MoreDaily Mail AU'Super' El Nino to cause hundreds of deaths in Australia & worldwideIrish TimesAdditional heat from El Niño projected to cause 450,000 deaths in next six monthsAOL News UKMonster El Nino warning issued by Met Office as 'biggest event in 100 years' to spark weather chaos
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