Experts say climate pattern could supercharge extreme weather events and push temperatures to record highs

EL Niño has officially arrived, US officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said on Thursday, and scientists predict it could be the strongest of the century.

Forecasters had previously anticipated that a phenomenon known as a super “El Niño” would emerge this summer – supercharging extreme weather events and pushing global temperatures to record heights.

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© Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

From a wet winter in the Southwest to fewer Atlantic hurricanes, this is what to expect as a potential super El Niño takes shape.

For the second day in a row, Chicago is in the bull’s-eye of the areas facing severe weather on Thursday, but the storm forecast is widespread.

© The New York Times

Meteorologists forecast it will rival – or exceed – record El Niño from 1997 and further heat globe

El Niño, Nature’s chaotic climate agent, has formed in a warmed-up Pacific Ocean and is expected to grow to historic strength, meteorologists announced on Thursday.

Experts said the El Niño, a natural warming cycle, should further heat a globe already warming from fossil fuel pollution and will probably turbocharge extreme weather across the planet. Meteorologists forecast it will rival – or exceed – a record El Niño that began in 1997 and helped trigger billions of dollars in damage from heatwaves, floods, droughts, tornadoes and wildfires.

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© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

Analysis pinpoints areas most vulnerable to hotter, drier weather causing ground to shrink and drag foundations down

Millions of homes are at risk from climate-related subsidence, according toan analysis by the British Geological Survey (BGS).

As hotter, drier summers driven by global heating become more frequent, the ground under houses can shrink and drag down a property’s foundations. The most vulnerable areas include London, Essex, Kent and a tranche of land from Oxford up to the Wash on England’s east coast, according to scientists, who say mitigation measures will be needed.

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© Photograph: Greg Balfour Evans/Alamy

© Photograph: Greg Balfour Evans/Alamy

© Photograph: Greg Balfour Evans/Alamy

High temperatures across the San Francisco Bay Area will reach into the 90s on Thursday, forecasters said.

© Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle, via Associated Press

Forecasters warned that destructive storms were expected across the region into Wednesday night.

© The New York Times

Soupy, hot weather will settle into the Northeast on Thursday and Friday, bringing with it the threat of dangerous storms.

© Angelina Katsanis for The New York Times