'Strongest El Niño of the century' is coming. Should we be scared? | BBC News

beneath the surface of the tropical Pacific, which has We're already up at levels that are typical for a very strong event at its peak.

taking shape.

Outs in some parts of the world, torrential rain in others.Over the link to climate change.First, let's start with the basics.What is El Niño?Here's Simon King from BBC Weather.

The heat transfers into the atmosphere, boosting the global average temperature.

So how does the El Niño weather pattern form?Here's BBC Weather's Sarah Keith -Lucas to explain.

We're called Pacific Ocean, with a change in temperature and wind.The usual east to west central and eastern Pacific.That in turn can bring wetter weather to the west coast of South America and drier conditions to the other side of the Pacific.But it can have much further reaching impacts too.Global temperatures are typically boosted by about 0 .2 Celsius.Whilst in the UK, El Niño can increase our risk of seeing a colder winter.

Seven years, but no two El Niño episodes are the same.

El Niño is one of the most warmer surface waters to move eastwards across the Pacific.You can see it there building up off the coast of South America.Now that is a classic sign of an impending El Niño.

So how concerning is it?Well, experts around the world have been warning about the potential.Climate Service says it could be the strongest in living memory.

That when it peaks in November and December, it's likely to be record event, unprecedented beyond anything we've seen in living memory.

So what about the impacts?Well, they're expected to be different depending on where you are in the world.States bringing with it the risk of flooding and powerful storms.Here's Ben Rich from BBC.

In Ecuador, for example, it brings the increased threats of flooding and landslides.The same for the southern U .S.But in Australia and Southeast Asia, the Indian monsoon tends to be suppressed.So far this year, that has brought less rainfall than normal.And even here in the UK, there can be impacts.

The Met Office is expecting a stormy and wet autumn.

So that's what could be on the horizon.

After the last El Nino, chocolate got 15 % more expensive because dry weather in Ghana and the Ivory Coast affected the coca harvests.

Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, but most of it is above sea level.That's the problem.Every time one of them does so, it requires tens of millions of gallons of fresh water.Now, the water supply is held in lakes in Panama, which rainfall, and that's the situation we're seeing at the moment.Flow through the canal has to be reduced.

So if this El Nino weather pattern could make 2027 the hottest year on record, what are the impacts of man -made climate change?However, as we move through the rest of El Nino of 1877, here's Ben again on how this one could compare.

1877 brought what is widely considered to have been the strongest of the long -term average so this one may be just about as bad but the thing you have to remember is that we also have the effects of climate change since the 19th century.Here's our climate editor Justin Rolad.

El Niño is happening on top line.Now, if I add in El Niño years shown in red, you can see how they peak temperatures and in La Niña, the cooler sister weather pattern to El Niño in blue.And you could isn't making El Niño happen more often.It is amplifying its effects because a warmer atmosphere and openfuels of our climate future which is already taking shape.

So that's all you need to know about the unprecedented El Nino.