We’re already feeling and seeing El Nino’s impacts. But greater risks are still to come and will be a key test for ASEAN.

For South-east Asia, 2027 could well break heat records and prove a key test of the region’s resilience.

The 2026 El Nino has brought a familiar, if painful, pattern: unbearable heat, dry weather, fires in Indonesia and choking haze blanketing the region. Many expect a dissipation in the coming weeks with the onset of the wet season. That’s a false hope.

“El Nino is not a short burst of hot weather that simply disappears when the north-east monsoon arrives,” said Ben Horton, a professor and dean of the School of Energy and Environment at the City University of Hong Kong.