UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that a strengthening El Niño is expected to intensify extreme weather worldwide, citing new World Meteorological Organization (WMO) forecasts covering August to October 2026.
Speaking to reporters outside the UN Security Council, Guterres said, “The climate crisis is in overdrive,” warning that the current period of record heat, wildfires and disrupted rainfall is “only a warm-up act.” He added that “El Niño is strengthening, adding fuel to a planet already on fire.”
According to the WMO forecasts, hotter and drier conditions are expected across parts of Europe, Africa, South Asia, Central America, the Caribbean and the Southwest Pacific, while India’s monsoon is already running below average.
El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern caused by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. It can alter global weather patterns, increasing the likelihood of heatwaves, droughts, heavy rainfall and other extreme weather events in different regions. Scientists say its effects can be amplified by long-term human-driven climate change.
Guterres also addressed wider international developments, urging sustained support for Syria’s recovery, announcing plans to convene a further 5+1 meeting on Cyprus following additional confidence-building efforts, and warning that six months of military escalation in the Gulf is driving global economic instability through disrupted trade, higher energy and food prices, and growing food insecurity.
He welcomed the recent announcement of a proposed roadmap for Hamas to relinquish its weapons and for Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza, stressing that “the fighting must stop on all fronts in the region”, that international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb must be restored, and that diplomacy remains the only path to lasting regional stability.
ℹ️ UN Web TV
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