The UK is set to be amongst the best prepared nations for the implications of climate change following publication of a groundbreaking study into the threats the country faces.

The Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) highlights the top 100 challenges to the UK and our economy of a changing climate and provides the most compelling evidence yet of the need to increase our resilience. The research confirms the UK as a world-leader in understanding climate risk to ensure we can make robust plans to deal with these threats.

In order to provide a reliable baseline for decisions by Government, local authorities and businesses the research does not take into account any future policies or plans. However, a Government report published alongside the CCRA does highlight the many current and future policies already in place and gives details of plans which will address some of the risks identified.

The Government has also announced a National Adaptation Programme that will prepare the UK for the effects of climate change, including the risks set out in the CCRA. People are encouraged to give their views through a new website on the action needed to tackle the implications of climate change where they live and work. (more…)

Bulldozers are due to move in and demolish Happisburgh’s doomed cliff-top homes this spring as the blighted seaside village prepares for a new lease of life.

Angie Fitch-Tillett, North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) cabinet member for the coast, said the council’s final purchase of nine erosion-threatened Beach Road homes had been wrapped up just before Christmas.

She added: “We are looking to get them down in the foreseeable future. In the worst case scenario it will be a couple of months.” (more…)

WALNEY residents whose homes are at risk of being washed into the sea have been snubbed by a government minister.

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock has now pledged to sit down with residents and town hall officials to consider the options after Richard Benyon refused his request to meet a local delegation to discuss the issue.

Mr Woodcock said: “The problem of coastal erosion at Earnse Bay is of pressing concern. (more…)

Christmas may be over and done with but what about all the left over Christmas trees?

With 8 million Christmas trees sold in the UK every year that can be quite a waste if they’re not put to good use.

Instead of throwing your tree on the rubbish heap why not use it to help the environment?

Well, Hayley decided to do just that and took hers to Formby in Merseyside to see how it can be used to prevent coastal erosion.

Story on BBC Newsround

WORKS to protect 65 homes in West Wittering from flooding in the future are going ‘full steam ahead’, the Environment Agency has said.

Residents and the community in the Witterings managed to raise an incredible £150,000 to help pay for the defence works.

The homes will be protected by raising the current embankment on the shore with clay. Preparation construction works have started but will not be implemented on the beach until April when birds stop nesting there. (more…)

The Environment Agency is calling on Newhaven, Seaford and Lewes residents to take part in an innovative project that will identify the best ways of adapting to the long term threats of coastal climate change.

As part of the Coastal Communities 2150 (CC2150) project, the Environment Agency is calling for community representatives including residents, businesses and local authorities, to get involved in setting up a group to plan ahead and decide how best to tackle these issues.

The coast around South East England is changing. With this in mind, the European funded CC2150 project aims to help communities get better prepared for the future effects of rising sea levels, increased flood risk and sinking land levels. (more…)

RESIDENTS can view information on how the coastline of the Lewes District is set to change during the next 20 years.

The district is part of a pioneering national pilot scheme to give the public online information on how the coast is changing.

A new set of web pages will provide information on how coastal erosion is expected to change the coastline in the next two decades.

The pages will also detail how the coast is being managed by the Environment Agency and the local authorities, as well as what coastal defences are in place. (more…)

Steps leading down to the beaches around the Seven Sisters cliffs will be relocated because of coastal erosion.

Planning permission has been granted to allow Wealden District Council to build the new steps in the Birling Gap.

The Seven Sisters cliffs, from Seaford to Beachy Head, are a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and part of the South Downs National Park.

The new staircase will be built 3m (9.8ft) inland from its current position. (more…)