PARIS, France (AFP) — The current El Nino weather phenomenon is expected to break records for its overall strength, a top expert said Tuesday, raising concerns about droughts, floods and other extremes linked to the event.

Forecast models are pointing to an “extreme” event, said Tim Stockdale, an El Nino expert at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), an intergovernmental organisation.

Stockdale said this year’s El Nino is unlike anything he had seen in more than three decades of tracking the phenomenon.