This year’s devastating El Niño event could be the ‘strongest in a lifetime’

ClimateThis year’s devastating El Niño event could be the ‘strongest in a lifetime’The El Niño is already impacting weather in America, stymying this year’s Atlantic hurricane production.Julia Musto in New York Friday 21 August 2026 23:23 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b3037320","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/el-nino-climate-change-weather-record-us-forecast-b3037320.html","title":"This year’s devastating El Niño event could be the ‘strongest in a lifetime’"}}CloseThis winter's El Niño could be strongest on recordSign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planetGet our free Climate emailGet our free Climate emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"pianoFieldName":"receiveClimate","regTitle":"Independent Climate","subscriptionGroup":"climate","subscriptionGroupId":"5a7ac7c1-5f39-48c0-8ee8-0b8e43b9e451","type":"climate_change","pathPrefix":"/climate-change","associatedAuthors":["Stuti Mishra"],"title":"Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet","mobileTitle":"Get our free Climate email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/climate1_1.png","description":"Sign up for news and advice on saving the planet","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveClimateNewsletter","regSourceSection":"Climate","regSourceNewsletter":"NSC"},"isClimate":true}This year’s El Niño weather event could be the “strongest in a lifetime,” weather experts have warnedThat's due to unusually warm s...