The village that’s being surrendered to the sea

Rising sea levels could turn the families of Fairbourne into Britain’s first climate change refugees – though not everyone is willing to leave, reports Colin Drury

(Alamy)

It is a coastal village which, on first impressions, seems the very definition of tranquillity. Fairbourne has a handful of shops, a couple of pubs and the air of peaceful contentment that perhaps comes with being gloriously sandwiched between the mountains and the sea. But today villagers in this west Wales idyll of just 400 homes are in mutinous mood.

“If they want us all out, they can expect a fight. What are they going to do? Bring in the army? There are only two ways in here, and they’re both easily blocked,” says Alan Jones, owner of the Fairbourne Chippy.

Such is the talk among the people who may soon take a much-unwanted title: the UK’s first climate change refugees.