An El Nino weather pattern warming the Pacific Ocean and linked to drought in South Asia is likely to continue through the first quarter of 2010, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Tuesday.

The phenomenon, which began in June and intensified in October, has "implications for many climate patterns around the world over the next several months", the WMO said.

But a second year of El Nino conditions or rapid transition to a La Nina pattern -- its counterpart in which waters cool -- are considered "unlikely", according to the United Nations agency.

An El Nino, which means "little boy" in Spanish, is driven by an abnormal warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean.

It can create havoc in weather patterns across the Asia-Pacific region, unleashing droughts in some places and heavy storms in others.