Changes to UK weather patterns are happening now. We are recording more periods of heavy rainfall and intense storms. Both can lead to flooding through increases in peak river flows, sea levels and tidal surges.
Extreme conditions like this are most likely in autumn and winter when weather tends to be wetter and soil more saturated. However, there is no 'flood season, and heavy rain in spring and summer can also cause severe flood incidents.
Most scientists agree that climate change will worsen during this century. Sir David King, the country's Chief Scientific Adviser, was asked by the Environment Agency and Government to evaluate a range of possible scenarios for climate change in the UK over the next hundred years.
His conclusions, published in the Foresight future flooding report, estimate that the risk of flooding from rivers and the sea will at least double by the 2080s, and could increase by up to 20 times. The number of people at a high risk of flooding could also rise from 1.5 million to between 2.3 and 3.5 million over the same period, with the cost of flooding rising from the current £1 billion a year to between £1.5 billion and £25 billion.
