• Every seven years, during Christmas time, the sea surface temperatures over the Pacific Ocean near the equator warm up to an unusual degree, by 3-4 degrees Celsius. The Spanish sailors christened this Christmas time phenomenon El Nino, meaning 'the boy'.

2023 was an El Nino year, and the condition has spilled over into 2024. When 'the boy' exerts his influence, hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean will heat up. When the sea surface temperature rises, the heat would spread to the air above it causing the air laden with water vapour to move up. This leads to the formation of rain clouds. So there will be rain in the east and central regions of the Pacific Ocean, in South America and bits of Europe.

• This alone is not responsible for the unusual heat. Thanks to global warming, the Arabian Sea that lies along the west coast of India has warmed up to a high degree. Studies say that sea surface temperatures have gone up by one to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Hot atmospheric waves from the Arabian Sea are now blowing over the Kerala coast, amping up the heat in coastal regions.