BBC News - UK storms: Hammond says climate change 'clearly a factor'

Climate change is "clearly a factor" in the period of stormy weather the UK has been experiencing, the defence secretary has said.

Philip Hammond told the Andrew Marr Show the storms and flooding had caused "quite serious damage" to the country's infrastructure.

Earlier, Labour leader Ed Miliband said global climate change was now an issue of national security.

Their comments come as more flooding is expected in many parts of the country.

Despite a let-up in the stormy weather, there are 14 severe flood warnings - indicating a "danger to life" - for south-east England close to the River Thames and two for the Somerset Levels, which have experienced weeks of flooding.

As well as the impact to the transport network, about one million properties had their power cut off in the last week and thousands in southern England and Wales are still without power, according to the Energy Networks Association.

Simon Clemison BBC News

If you had to quickly leave the house at dawn as floodwaters rose would you remember everything you need? Bedding? Baby supplies? How about contacting the local authority?

Flooding has no respect for the 9 to 5. A rest centre at Bridgwater has been a first port of call for people who have made the decision to leave their homes on the Somerset Levels.

Here, donated food and blankets are piled up. Volunteers offer advice and support.

As the crisis continues, the services on offer at Westfield Church are evolving. You can do your washing and cook a meal here.

It may be a home from home but it's not the real thing and the question now is how long will it take before people can return. One charity fears it could be months before properties are dried out and repaired.

For this one church the doors could be open a lot longer than this day of worship.

Some Conservative MPs and peers have challenged the argument that the recent storms were connected to global temperature changes.

Former chancellor Lord Lawson, who is among the most prominent climate change sceptics, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday it was "not the case" that the storms were due to global warming.

However, Mr Miliband said: "What we've learnt from what's happened over the last few weeks, tragically, is that the costs of not acting on climate change in terms of the billions of pounds that are lost in terms of businesses and families as well as the human costs are greater than the costs of acting."

He added: "Climate change will mean more floods and more storms and that's why we've got to treat it like any other national security issue and that means uniting as a country behind a national effort to do more to defend against the floods, to invest in clean energy and to show leadership internationally to persuade other countries to be part of the fight against climate change."

Earlier, he told the Observer that "because of political division in Westminster we are sleepwalking into a national security crisis on climate change".

"The terrible events of the last few weeks should serve as a wake-up call for us all," he added.

Mr Hammond said: "Climate change is clearly happening; it is clearly a factor in the weather patterns that we are seeing.

"That's why we are investing significant amounts of money in increasing our flood resilience in the UK."

He said although the floods were "a terrible tragedy" for those affected, "hundreds of thousands of properties" had been protected from flooding "by the investment we've made over recent years".

The US Secretary of State John Kerry has urged the global community to act against climate change, saying "the window of time" is closing to prevent the worst consequences.

His comments coincide with the release of new research, which suggests the main system that helps determine the weather over northern Europe and North America may be changing.

The study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago, showed the so-called jet stream has increasingly taken a longer, meandering path resulting in weather remaining the same for more prolonged periods.

Last week, the Met Office's chief scientist Dame Julia Slingo said there was "no definitive answer" as to what had caused the period of stormy weather in the UK but that "all the evidence suggests there is a link to climate change".

Labour has called for more action to tackle climate change including a cross-party agreement for a 2030 decarbonisation target, and greater efforts to reach international agreements on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

It said the independent Committee for Climate Change - which advises the government on emissions targets and climate change - should do a full assessment of the policy response to extreme weather conditions caused by climate change and preparedness for future floods.

And it said a greater priority should be given to flood defence and protection.

The committee itself said that while an extra £130m pledged by the government would bring some comfort to flooded communities, it would not address the rising long-term flood risk.

It said ministers needed to increase significantly the amount they planned to spend on flood and coastal defences if it was to make up a projected shortfall.

In its latest blog, the committee said the new money would primarily be spent on repairing and reinstating defences that had been damaged in the recent storms, and so help recover existing levels of protection.

But it added: "So the additional funding won't materially address the rising long-term flood risk given the latest assessment of the investment need."

By 2015, it said, "we are on course to spend half a billion pounds less on flood and coastal defence over this Parliament than the amount needed to avoid more homes becoming at significant risk over time. This remains the case".

Live flood warnings from the Environment Agency

This map and flood alert data are supplied to the BBC by third parties. The BBC is not responsible for its accuracy and you use it at your own risk