On 14 September 2026, the UK government announced that up to £15 million was being made available through the Humanitarian Crisis Fund for anticipatory action in countries most at risk from El Niño. According to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the funding was intended to help hundreds of thousands of people prepare for droughts, floods and food shortages, including by vaccinating livestock, reinforcing homes and providing cash support to farming families.

The announcement cited regions depending on the season, including drought-prone parts of southern Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America and flood-affected areas of East Africa and South America. It said scientists had warned that a strengthening El Niño could trigger more severe conditions in the coming months; the source described the event as forecast to be the largest in living memory.

Development Minister Kirsty McNeill said acting early costs less than responding after disasters. The release said around 35% of humanitarian shocks can be predicted in advance, while less than 1% of global humanitarian funding was then allocated to anticipatory action. It also cited a UK-led goal of raising pre-arranged finance from 2% towards 20% of crisis finance by 2035.