BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — The Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum (CariCOF) says strengthening El Niño conditions and steadily warming Caribbean waters are expected to intensify heat, prolong drought in parts of the region, and increase the risk of flooding from heavy rainfall during the remainder of the wet season.

El Niño is a climate pattern where the surface water in the tropical Pacific Ocean becomes much warmer than usual. This warming changes the winds globally and disrupts normal weather patterns, causing extreme events like heavy rainfall, droughts and heatwaves.

In its latest Caribbean Climate Outlooks released Thursday, the Barbados-based climate agency said the conditions could imply increasingly intense humid heat into the peak of the heat season in September, culminating in recurrent heatwaves, especially in the far north.