El Nino effect: Southeast Asia braces for dry weather

The central Pacific is predicted to continue to warm, with neutral conditions likely for the southern hemisphere autumn

An El Niño may develop by July as forecasters worldwide predict the pattern that can disrupt global weather is set to return this year.

Six of eight climate models predict El Niño thresholds may be reached by July, with all showing steady warming in the central tropical Pacific Ocean over the next six months, the Bureau of Meteorology said on its website on Tuesday. The bureau maintained a "watch" for the weather pattern, indicating a 50 percent chance of it forming this year.

Less than a year after the end of one of the strongest El Niños on record, forecasters around the