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A "Super El Nino" is expected to bring unprecedented famine and disease to developing countries in 2016, according to aid agencies.

A report for Oxfam says: “The effects of a super El Nino are set to put the world’s humanitarian system under an unprecedented level of strain in 2016, as it already struggles to cope with the fallout from conflicts in Syria, South Sudan, Yemen and elsewhere."

Oxfam estimates the El Nino weather system could leave tens of millions of people facing hunger, water shortages and disease next year if early action isn’t taken.”

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This periodic weather event, which leads to extreme weather events around the world, has helped make 2015 the world's warmest year on record.

But the full effects are expected to be felt in the new year.

(Image: Reuters)

Charities say that food shortages are likely to peak in Southern Africa in February with Malawi estimating that almost three million people will require humanitarian assistance before March.

Drought and erratic rains have also affected two million people across Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

More floods are expected in Central America in January.

(Image: Save the Children/kyle Degraw)

El Nino is a naturally occurring weather episode that sees the warm waters of the central Pacific expand eastwards towards North and South America.

The phenomenon, which happens every two to seven years, usually peaks late in the year, but the effects can last well into the following spring.

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According to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) the current El Nino has an 80 percent chance of lasting into the spring.

This episode is the strongest event since 1998 and is expected to be among the three most powerful ever recorded.