Severe flooding incidents across the UK are set to increase due to the impact of climate change, the Environment Agency has warned.

The organisation has today, 16 February, launched its Flood Action Campaign targeting younger people through social media and online advertising to encourage them to check their flood risk at GOV.UK, sign up for free warnings and be prepared to take action when flooding hits.

The EA said over the past 10 years, a pattern of severe flooding is linked to an increase in extreme weather events as the country's climate changes. Met Office figures show that since 1910, there have been 17 record-breaking rainfall months or seasons – with nine of them since 2000. Sea levels are also rising due to climate change.

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Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Ea, said climate change is likely to lead to "more frequent and intense flooding".

"Our flood defences reduce the risk of flooding, and our flood warnings help keep communities safe when it threatens," he said.

"But we can never entirely eliminate the risk of flooding. Checking your flood risk is the first step to protecting yourself, your loved ones and your home."

Professor Adam Scaife, who leads this area of research at the Met Office, said: "The Met Office supercomputer was used to simulate thousands of possible winters, some of them much more extreme than we've yet witnessed.

"This gave many more extreme events than have happened in the real world, helping us work out how severe things could get."

To view details of the Flood Action Campaign, visit here.

(LM)