Southern Africa will face widespread dry conditions and above-average temperatures during the 2026/27 rainy season, as a rapidly strengthening El Niño in the tropical Pacific Ocean suppresses regional rainfall, a latest regional climate outlook shows. The forecast was released by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), following the Thirty-Third Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum…
Staff Writer A new El Niño climate phase is projected to begin within weeks, with the drought signal expected to be most pronounced in Southern Africa as agriculture goes on high alert around the world. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has forecast a stronger-than-usual cycle, prompting advanced mapping from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of…
Staff Writer The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is poised for a period of normal to above-normal rainfall across most of its territory from February through June 2026, a new forecast shows. The official forecast, released by the Thirty-Second Southern African Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF-32), indicates that while the central and inland areas…
Staff Writer The Meteorological Services Department has issued a nationwide advisory warning of increased daytime temperatures and potential moisture deficits across Zimbabwe. Effective today, through February 5, 2026, the alert indicates a high likelihood of dry and hot conditions as prevailing south-easterly winds displace the main rain-bearing Intertropical Convergence Zone further north. While the warning…
Staff Writer SADC has deployed its Emergency Response Team to support the governments of Mozambique and South Africa, following recent floods and extreme weather conditions that have resulted in loss of lives, destruction of infrastructure and disruptions of essential services. The deployment of the SADC Emergency Response Team (ERT), as part of the SADC’s regional disaster response…
Zimbabwe is poised for a shift to normal-to-above-normal rainfall for the 2025-2026 season after surviving a record-breaking mid-season dry spell during the last agricultural cycle. However, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a warning that the return of La Niña conditions brings heightened risks of flooding and tropical cyclones that could threaten…
The UN World Food Programme warns that just a 1°C increase in global temperature threatens to push an additional 70 million people into food insecurity across its 45 operational countries. Extreme weather is exacerbating a global hunger crisis, as seen in recent disasters Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean and Typhoon Fung-Wong in the Philippines. Storms,…
Staff Writer Zimbabwe is set for another wet summer, with climate experts confirming a strong likelihood of La Niña conditions that are expected to drive normal to above-normal rainfall across most of the country for the 2025-2026 cropping season. The La Niña phenomenon is a natural climate cycle characterised by cooler-than-average Pacific Ocean temperatures, typically…
Heat-related deaths are skyrocketing, increasing by 23% since the 1990s and reaching an annual average of 546,000 deaths, a new report shows. The 2025 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report, released in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), says climate change is directly to blame for the escalating crisis. The report states…
Staff Writer The Southern African Development Community (SADC), in partnership with the World Bank and the Kingdom of Eswatini, is launching a new platform aimed at shifting the region’s approach to drought from reactive crisis management to proactive resilience building. The SADC and Eswatini Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) platform will be launched during the DRM…
