The strongest El Niño on record is here. Southern Africa is acting early

The UN's humanitarian office (OCHA) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have appealed for immediate support for communities already hit by the strongest El Niño on record. Pacific Ocean temperatures are forecast to run up to 3.8°C above normal.

For southern Africa, that means a hot, dry planting season. SADC's seasonal outlook points to below-normal rain from October to December across Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, most of South Africa, southern Zambia and Zimbabwe.

This week in Johannesburg, SADC Member States and humanitarian partners are developing a Regional Contingency Plan for the 2026/27 season. They are setting drought triggers for anticipatory action and pre-positioning food and supplies before the worst hits. During the 2023/24 El Niño, more than 30 million people in the region were affected by drought. This time the aim is to act on the forecast, not the fallout.

A warmer world amplifies El Niño's impacts. That makes early action a matter of justice for the communities who did least to cause the climate crisis. UN science, humanitarian funding and regional leadership are working as one to keep people safe and to keep the Sustainable Development Goals within reach.

Follow your national weather service and act on early warnings.

- Full OCHA–WMO briefing: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k15/k15rgv33hs

- SADC preparedness workshop: https://www.sadc.int/latest-news/southern-africa-prepares-anticipated-impacts-el-nino-202627