The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has recognized last year's tropical cyclone Freddy as the longest-lasting cyclone ever recorded, the organization reported in Geneva on Tuesday.
It lasted 36 days and travelled around 12,780 kilometres as a tropical storm or cyclone.
Freddy partially devastated Madagascar off the east coast of Africa and the neighbouring countries of Mozambique and Malawi on the mainland. More than 500 people lost their lives.
To date, tropical cyclone John had been the longest, lasting 29.75 days. It raged in the North Pacific in 1994.
Cyclone Freddy formed off the north-west coast of Australia in February 2023 and travelled westwards to East Africa. The most severe damage occurred there in March.
Weather extremes are recorded in an archive. Experts spend months analysing all measurements in detail, for example the growth and duration of cyclones.
Storms are divided into seven categories depending on wind speed: from tropical depression to cyclone or hurricane level 5.
Hurricane, cyclone and typhoon are names for the same phenomenon: the term hurricane is used in the Atlantic and North Pacific, typhoon in Asia and cyclone in the Indian Ocean.