The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), the official weather service of Australia, have declared the start of El Niño, as a very early heatwave grips Australia.

Due to an unusual heatwave at the beginning of spring, Australia has officially declared the weather phenomenon El Niño for the country.

For days, several states, especially in the east and south of Australia, have been sweating at record temperatures.

In some places, temperatures have been 10-16°C above the average values for September. In some places, peaks reached 36-39°C. In Sydney, figures also reached 30°C for several days.

On the south coast of New South Wales, the fire risk was upgraded due to strong winds. Around 20 schools had to be closed as a precaution for safety reasons.

El Niño threatens to bring very high temperatures and fierce bushfires in the upcoming summer.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) already declared in July that El Niño conditions are prevailing in the tropical Pacific for the first time in several years.

These can drive up global temperatures and change regional weather and climate patterns.

Governments have been called upon to prepare for extreme weather events. The last strong El Niño event occurred in 2015 and 2016.

El Niño is a natural weather phenomenon that recurs every few years. It is associated with warming seawater in the tropical Pacific Ocean and weak trade winds.

Impacts occur mainly in Southeast Asia, Australia, Africa and Central America.