Published : 06 Sep 2026, 03:46 AM
Updated : 16 Sep 2026, 11:47 AM
British households are being urged to stock up on food and water as forecasters warn the world is on course for the largest El Niño climate event in at least 1,000 years -- one that could bring a stormy, wet winter to the UK and catastrophic flooding and drought to much of the rest of the world.
The United Nations has warned that the El Niño phenomenon is being "supersized before our eyes," with UN Secretary General António Guterres saying the planet is now in "uncharted waters."
"The world is in the danger zone of extreme weather," Guterres said, reports The Guardian.
"The race now is between rising risks and our commitment to take climate action and protect people."
UK Environment Secretary Angela Eagle told the Guardian that the country needed to take the threat seriously, urging households to keep enough supplies on hand to last a few days without power or running water.
"We're about to experience probably the largest El Niño that has ever been seen," she said. "That will lead to drier summers, wetter winters, with more extreme storms in this country."
El Niño is a natural climate cycle in which shifts in Pacific wind patterns cause ocean temperatures to rise, transferring enormous amounts of heat into the atmosphere.
The latest data shows ocean temperatures at the heart of the current El Niño sitting 2.6C above the 30-year average -- already approaching the highest anomaly ever recorded in the satellite era.
Forecasters expect that figure to reach around 4C by November.
Climate analyst Zeke Hausfather said analysis of corals, tree rings and historical records suggested no El Niño had reached this scale in the past millennium.
Experts have described the event as "truly mind-blowing" and "Godzilla-level."
The effects are already being felt globally -- from worsening wildfires in Indonesia to weakening monsoon rains in India.
Australia faces greater fire risk, South America more intense flooding, and the World Food Programme has warned the event could push around 50 million people into acute hunger.
With 2027 forecast to shatter temperature records and become the hottest year ever measured, the UK government is stepping up its response.
The Cabinet Office plans a campaign in the coming months urging households to stock tinned food and prepare for national emergencies.
Eagle also announced a new reservoir -- the country's first since 1992 -- and farming reforms aimed at building long-term climate resilience.
