Flood risk may force UK towns to be abandoned

Whole areas of England may have to be abandoned due to the threat of flooding caused by climate change, experts have warned. The Environment Agency (EA) said communities near the coast or rivers could be forced to move as the country prepares to counter average global temperature of up to 4 C.
It said in some cases of extreme erosion or flooding, a policy of rebuilding water damaged homes to be more resilient “may not be appropriate”, meaning “potentially moving communities out of harm’s way in the longer term”.
EA chairwoman Emma Howard Boyd said: “The coastline has never stayed in the same place and there have always been floods, but climate change is increasing and accelerating these threats.
“We can’t win a war against water by building away climate change with flood defences. We need to develop consistent standards for flood and coastal resilience that help communities better understand their risk and give them more control about how to adapt and respond.
“More should be done to encourage property owners to build back better and in better places after a flood, rather than just recreating what was there before.”
An average annual investment of £1 billion will be needed over the next 50 years in England for traditional defences, the EA’s new climate strategy said