Drought and rising temperatures 'leaves 36m people across Africa facing hunger'

Unusually strong El Nino, coupled with record-high temperatures, has had a catastrophic effect on crops and rainfall across southern and eastern Africa

More than 36 million people face hunger across southern and eastern Africa, the United Nations has warned, as swaths of the continent grapple with the worst drought in decades at a time of record high temperatures.

The immediate cause of the drought which has crippled countries from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe is one of the strongest El Nino events ever recorded. It has turned normal weather patterns upside down around the globe, climate scientists say.