The proportion of the UK public describing themselves as "very concerned" about climate change has hit 35 per cent in the latest government survey on the topic, the highest level recorded since the questionnaire began in 2012.

Results from the latest BEIS Public Attitudes Tracker, which questioned 2,000 adults across Great Britain in March on their views on energy and climate change, reveals a record 80 per cent of the public are now "very" or "fairly" concerned about climate change.

The result represents a sharp increase on the 65 per cent of the public in 2012 and 74 per cent in March 2018 who described themselves as concerned about climate change.

The increase in overall concern is being driven by a spike in the number of people describing themselves as "very concerned", BEIS noted.

The survey was conducted in the wake of school strikes, where millions of school children around the world refused to attend lessons in protest at the lack of global action on climate change, and following increasingly hard-hitting warnings about a climate emergency from high-profile figures such as Sir David Attenborough.

However, the poll was undertaken before the Easter protests by climate protest group Extinction Rebellion, which brought much of central London to a standstill, and Parliament's declaration of a 'climate emergency'.

The survey also revealed a spike in the number of people describing climate change as either entirely or mainly caused by human activity. Just under 50 per cent said this was the case, the highest level recorded since the survey started.

New questions introduced in the latest survey also suggest the public is increasingly spotting the impacts of a changing climate in their everyday lives. Seven in 10 said climate change is already affecting the UK, with 51 per cent of people noticing higher temperatures and hotter summers.

The findings echo similar polls suggesting last summer's heatwave drove a surge in awareness of climate change.

Respondents suggested the government should take charge of dealing with the threat of a changing climate as opposed to the public or businesses, with 45 per cent claiming it is the government's responsibility to lead the response.

Alice Bell, Director at 10:10 Climate Action said the survey clearly shows the public wants to see more action on climate change from the government. 

"The government has been running this study since 2012, and concern about climate change is at an all time high - at 80 per cent," she said. "If Theresa May is looking for a way to unite the country, coming together to tackle climate change is the perfect opportunity."

Elsewhere in the survey, support for renewable energy increased from 77 per cent in December 2018 to 84 per cent in March 2019, nearing the 85 per cent peak recorded in March 2018.

Support for solar rose to 89 per cent, hit 83 per cent for offshore wind, reached 82 per cent for marine energy, and topped 79 per cent for onshore wind. It marks their highest levels of support since the survey started. 

Moreover, almost 70 per cent of people said they were concerned the UK is not investing fast enough in alternative sources of energy.

And support for fracking fell to 12 per cent, the lowest ever level, and opposition rose to 40 per cent, the highest ever level.