Five ways El Niño is affecting the weather around the world

In the eastern Pacific, where El Niño tends to strengthen hurricane activity, it has been a very active season so far. There have been 22 named storms and 12 hurricanes, including 10 major hurricanes. This is already above the number that would typically develop in the whole of an average season, with two months left to go until its end.Here, El Niño provides the ingredients of higher ocean temperatures and weaker winds high in the atmosphere, making it easier for storms to gain strength.Hurricane Polo is one such example of this.The hurricane experienced rapid intensification, producing wind gusts of 180 mph (285 kmh), fueled by the very warm waters produced by El Niño.Polo was also one of three hurricanes churning away in the same basin at the same time, along with Odalys and Nolo. Moreover, it has happened twice now in the space of a month. Earlier in September, the energy produced by exceptional ocean heat resulted in three simultaneous hurricanes in the central and eastern Pacific: Lowell, Karina and Marie. Until this year, the last time there had been three Pacific hurricanes at the same time was 2015.In contrast, the Atlantic Ocean has remained eerily quiet.El Nino has a tendency to increase wind shear in the north Atlantic, a factor which tears apart storms and limits formation.There has only been one hurricane - Isaias - which made landfall in the Florida Panhandle and Alabama.This was the latest forming hurricane on record in the satellite era (1960s onward).Before this year, the record was 11 September, set in 2002 and 2013.In an average season, there would have been 10 named storms, five hurricanes and two major hurricanes by this point.This year, however, there have only been eight tropical storms: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo and Hanna.