Typhoons batter East Asia as El Niño drives extreme weather

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 5 Nov, 11:56 · Archive

Intense storms exacerbated by El Niño have killed dozens across the Philippines, Taiwan, China and Japan in recent months.

Typhoons have killed dozens across the Philippines, Taiwan, China and Japan over the last few months, with intense storms exacerbated by El Niño causing widespread disruption. In October, Typhoon Champi, equivalent to a category five hurricane with winds of 295km/h (193mph), forced Taiwan to shut down. Although it did not make landfall on the island of 23 million, it had far-reaching impacts: hundreds of flights were cancelled in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan, seaside highways in the Philippines' Batanes archipelago closed as huge waves crashed onto the shore, and power was cut to tens of thousands of homes in southern Japan's Okinawa islands.

El Niño is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon in which warm waters pooling in the eastern Pacific drive extreme weather events around the world. It happens roughly every two to seven years, lasting around a year. The UK Met Office has forecast this year's El Niño to be the 'strongest in living memory', lasting until February or March. Ana Liza Solis, head of climatology at the Philippines' national weather bureau, likened the Pacific Ocean to someone 'burning with fever', warning it 'can go into convulsions soon'.

Sea surface temperatures in parts of the Pacific have reached 4C above normal conditions, the highest since records began in 1949, according to reporting from The Mirror. A previous record of 3.6C was observed in December 1997. China's climate agency said temperatures could continue to rise over winter due to El Niño, raising concerns as typhoon season typically peaks in September and October.

How it is being reported

• Pacific Ocean like someone 'burning with fever' thanks to El Niño, experts warn as typhoons batter East AsiaExperts fear El Niño will trigger conditions in the Pacific that could lead to more powerful storms that could result in power outages and hundreds of thousands being forced to flee their homesThe Mirror · 5 Nov, 11:28
• Typhoons batter East Asia as El Niño makes Pacific 'burn with fever'Even for countries where typhoons are a way of life, the last few months have brought unusually wild weather.BBC News · 4 Nov, 23:12

In this story: El Niño · Philippines · Taiwan · China · Japan · Ana Liza Solis · UK Met Office · Typhoon Champi

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