The Guardian21 Jul 2026Macro
Automatically composed with AI from the cited sources
Up to 13 million people in the UK face long-term coastal flood risk under a worst-case scenario of 15 metres of sea level rise by 2300, according to a study in Nature Communications; even if current global pledges are met, 1.4 million more people would be exposed in 2200 and 1.7 million in 2300, while a further 40–60 cm of rise already baked in by 2100 puts about 500,000 more at risk on top of the 2.5 million already in danger, with Lincolnshire and the Humber estuary most threatened. The study, led by the University of Bristol’s Prof Matt Palmer using Fathom flood models, does not factor future storm surges or population changes.