The world’s leading climate monitors are warning that the developing El Niño event could reach “moderate to strong” or even “strong to potentially unprecedented” intensity by the end of 2026, raising the prospect of record-breaking global temperatures and more extreme weather. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts’ Copernicus programme said every forecast model has been revised upward since 1 May, with the latest monthly outlook pointing to a high likelihood of a powerful episode. “All models have shifted to the top end of the range,” the observatory’s director told *Le Monde* .
The alert comes as May 2026 was confirmed as the second-warmest May on record globally, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, reinforcing a trend of accelerating heatwaves. Scientists warn that the combination of a strong El Niño and long-term climate change could push 2026 beyond 2023 and 2024 as the hottest year yet. “The planet is already in uncharted territory,” said the director of the Alfred Wegener Institute, as researchers reported a surge in icebergs off Greenland that threatens shipping lanes .
In Europe, governments and health services are bracing for a summer of extreme heat. A coalition of more than 150 German organisations has demanded systematic heat-protection measures, warning that a multi-day heat dome could cause “thousands of deaths” . In Brandenburg, the AOK health insurer reported a sharp rise in sick leave during hot spells, linking the trend to increasingly frequent 30 °C-plus days .
Meanwhile, southern Germany’s Alpine region is defying climate anxiety. Seilbahn operators in South Tyrol report record summer visitor numbers, with more than ten million people carried uphill in the first half of 2026 alone. “Skiing is not dead,” said one industry executive quoted in the *Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung*, pointing to year-round tourism as a hedge against warming winters .
Meteorologists elsewhere are struggling to explain erratic June weather. In Ireland, Met Éireann forecaster Linda Hughes said persistent heavy showers are the result of unstable air masses over the Atlantic, leaving summer feeling unseasonably cool and damp . Across Scandinavia, forecasters are advising umbrella-ready commuters for school-leaving ceremonies, with rain sweeping in ahead of the weekend .