El Niño transforms Chile's Atacama Desert as thousands of hectares bloom

Published on 23/09/2026 - 7:03 GMT+2

The Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on the planet, has been transformed in appearance after intense rainfall in northern Chile. Vast swathes of usually parched ground have been carpeted with purple and white flowers in a natural phenomenon known as the "desierto florido", or "flowering desert".

Beneath the soil of Atacama, seeds and bulbs from around 200 different species lie dormant for long periods, waiting for the conditions they need to germinate. The rainfall linked to the El Niño climate phenomenon has enabled many of them to bloom. The result has transformed parts of the desert landscape and drawn in large numbers of visitors, who stop to photograph the unusual display of blossom.

Rainfall has been especially abundant this season. In some areas, more than 180 millimetres of rain have fallen, a level that "has never been recorded before", César Pizarro, head of biodiversity in Atacama at Chile's National Forestry Corporation (Conaf), told AFP.

Water has seeped deeper than usual into the sand, encouraging vegetation to emerge in the nature reserve around 800 kilometres north of Santiago. According to Conaf forecasts, the phenomenon will reach its peak splendour in October. The agency estimates that around 15,000 hectares could end up carpeted with flowers.

El Niño behind the exceptional rainfall

The flowering comes after a period of heavy rainfall linked to El Niño, a climate phenomenon characterised by the warming of surface waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.

This warming can disrupt wind and rainfall patterns in different parts of the world and trigger extreme weather events. The current El Niño episode could be the strongest since comparable records began four decades ago.

The rains that hit Chile in July also had serious consequences. At least 13 people were killed and around 4,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged.