BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Governments, businesses, farmers and households across the Caribbean are being urged to step up preparations for potentially severe climate extremes as El Niño strengthens and threatens to intensify the hot and dry conditions already affecting parts of the region.

In a news release on Tuesday, the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) and the University of the West Indies Climate Studies Group Mona (UWI CSGM) warned that the region should remain particularly vigilant as August to October marks the peak of the Caribbean’s heat season.

The unusually dry conditions are also raising concern because the region is expected to enter its climatological dry season around November. Current forecasts indicate that below-normal rainfall could persist into 2027, while potentially record-breaking heat could develop during the next heat season, particularly from March through May.