The World Meteorological Organisation has verified that Tropical Cyclone Freddy, which moved more than 12,000km across the Indian Ocean in early 2023 for 36 days, is the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record.

Listen to this article 10 min Listen to this article 10 min Tropical Cyclone Freddy, which traversed more than 12,000km across Earth in February and March last year, has officially been verified as the longest-lasting tropical cyclone in recorded history, totalling 36 days, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

Freddy crossed the Indian Ocean basin, starting off the coast of northwest Australia and reaching southern Africa, travelling the equivalent of nearly 33% of the Earth's circumference from 4 February to 14 March 2023.

It caused severe human and economic losses, with southeastern Africa bearing the brunt of the impact - raising the alarm on how important early warning systems and proper climate adaptation mechanisms are.

After more than a year of investigation, a WMO international committee of experts set up in March 2023, a few days before the cyclone ended, were able to verify that Freddy had, at 36 days, broken the record as the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record.

The committee, working under the auspices of the Weather and Climate Extremes Archive, conducted a detailed analysis and verification of the distance and duration of Freddy.

The previous record holder was Tropical Cyclone John in 1994, which...