By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Published: 11:11 BST, 23 August 2026 | Updated: 18:05 BST, 23 August 2026
After months of record-breaking heat, Britons have been told to brace for a cold and stormy winter, thanks to the Super El Niño weather phenomenon that's building in the Pacific Ocean.
With the UK separated from the Pacific by around 5,000 miles of land, not to mention the Atlantic, you might be wondering how El Niño can affect us on British soil.
But scientists have explained how warm ocean temperatures in the Pacific send 'waves' rippling through the atmosphere.
These waves push the world's most powerful weather systems – including the Jet Stream – off their usual course, wreaking havoc on Britain's winter weather.
This winter, experts predict the Jet Stream will send storms towards the UK along powerful currents of fast-moving winds.
While it is still too early to say when these storms will occur, the latest predictions agree that bad weather is increasingly likely.
Will Lang, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, told the Daily Mail: 'El Niño conditions increase the chance of storms in late autumn and early winter.
'It is too early to comment on flood risk this winter, though again some flooding is to be expected and should be planned for in any UK autumn and winter.'
Experts warn that the 'unprecedented' Super El Niño will cause wetter and stormier weather in the UK during autumn and winter
From October to November, the Met Office predicts it could start to get colder in the UK
El Niño was officially declared in June, when sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific climbed 0.5°C (0.9°F) above the long-term seasonal average.
Now, the Met Office suggests that the natural warming of these critical waters could reach 3C (37F) in the coming months – with noticeable knock-on effects for Britain.
The El Niño Southern Oscillation is a naturally occurring climate cycle that changes between the hot El Niño and cool La Niña phases every two to seven years.
