Storm Eunice is yet another sign that Britain’s defences are inadequate

Editorial: Science tells us that storms, floods and droughts are likely to become more commonplace in the UK in future years – spending on resilience is one of the best investments a nation can make

Waves crash against the sea wall and Porthcawl Lighthouse in Bridgend, Wales, during Storm Eunice (PA)

Like the trajectory of a flying wheelie bin across the sky, opinions about Britain’s freakish weather are flapping wildly in the national conversation. Blowhard climate activists and climate deniers are taking the opportunity to use the storms to further their own arguments. The truth is more subtle, but also more disturbing than some of the more absolutist, instant “takes”.

True, there is no way of stating for certain, or “proving”, that Storm Dudley and Strom Eunice are specifically “caused” by climate change. Indeed such an assertion doesn’t make much sense, either way, because climate change is a generalised, planet-wide phenomenon, and in that sense “causes” all kinds of weather, pleasant and otherwise. The British Isles have faced great storms many times, and they predate the industrial era.

Nonetheless, we know that the climate crisis is real and it is generating more frequent strange and extreme weather events across our fragile planet. There is also no doubt that the severe wind and rains now battering parts of Britain and the rest of Europe are unusual. There is no reason, either, to doubt that they may well have been exacerbated, if not caused, by the advent of anthropological climate change – examples of an increasing frequency of freakish episodes.