MANILA- The rainy season for this year will be delayed with weather pattern El Niño expected to last until June, the state meteorology bureau said Monday.

PAGASA warned that the effects of El Niño, a weather pattern associated with reduced rainfall, would become more drastic as the Philippines approaches the summer season.

"Air temperatures are now increasing as we approach the dry season and the impacts of El Niño are expected to become severe," Flaviana Hilario, PAGASA deputy administrator for research and development, said in a press briefing.

"Ang implication po nito is we are expecting slight delay on the onset of our rainy season," she added.

The Philippines has been experiencing reduced rainfall since February with several provinces suffering from dry spell and drought.

At present, 11 provinces in Luzon and Mindanao are experiencing "meteorological drought," or the dominance of dry weather.

Provinces in Luzon affected by the meteorological drought are Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, and Palawan.

Affected provinces in Mindanao meanwhile are Maguindanao, Sulu, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga Sibugay.

• Zamboanga Sibugay under state of calamity due to El Niño impact
• 33 provinces to suffer from drought until end of El Niño: NDRRMC

Rainfall in Mindanao has been drastically reduced by 60 percent, said Hilario who noted that the rain brought by Tropical Depression Chedeng in the southern Philippines may improve weather conditions there.

"Halos buong Pilipinas ay apektado na ng El Niño at kakaunti po talaga ang ulan natin for the past 2 months," she said.

(Almost the entire Philippines has been affected by El Niño and we really have little rain for the past 2 months.)