Areas of Durham and Tyneside that will be underwater by 2030

The State of the Climate report has highlighted the separate parts of the North East that could be underwater, as well as citing that higher temperatures are the new normal for Britain.

By assessing climate and weather events for 2021, including extreme events like Storm Arwen that caused destructive flooding in County Durham, Northumberland, and parts of North Yorkshire, the Met Office has been able to pinpoint those locations most at risk.

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As expected, most of the places that could be affected are coastal – but other areas like Chester-le-Street, Lamesley, Blyth, and some parts of Newcastle could be in danger.

All the areas that could be in danger of becoming underwater:

• Wylam
• Newburn
• Stella
• Metrocentre
• Lamesley
• South Shields
• North Shields
• Blyth
• Seaburn
• Chester-le-Street
• Ruswarp

According to the report, conservationists warn that spring is coming earlier, and that plant and animal life is not evolving quickly enough to adapt to climate change.

The report highlights again the ways climate change is affecting the UK.

An overview of the locations that could be underwater by 2030. Picture: GOOGLE

Sea levels have risen by around 16.5cm (6.5 ins) since 1900, but the Met Office says the rate of rise is increasing. They are now rising by 3-5.2mm a year, which is more than double the rate of increase in the early part of last century.

Extreme sea levels during Storm Arwen last November were only avoided because it hit during a lower than usual tide, according to Dr Svetlana Jevrejeva from the National Oceanographic Centre.

"The scale, rate and impact will change, and it will change dramatically quite soon," she told the BBC.

Chester-le-Street is one of the locations that could be underwater. Picture: GOOGLE

This study comes after up to 1.5 million UK properties face an increased risk of flooding by 2080 because of rising seas triggered by melting Arctic sea ice, MPs have found.

Greenhouse gases have already warmed the atmosphere enough to lock in between 17.5mm-52.4mm of global sea level rise by 2100 and any further warming will only increase that, scientists told the Environmental Audit Committee’s sub-committee on polar research.

As Arctic sea ice melts, the rate at which it disappears will speed up as more of the sun’s energy is absorbed by the dark ocean rather than being reflected back into space off the white ice – a process known as the albedo effect.

Temperatures in the Arctic are warming four times faster than the global average and the melting ice is devastating the wildlife and people who depend on it for their livelihoods.

These changes may also affect the UK’s weather, though scientists said more research is needed to know for sure.

If enough freshwater from Greenland’s glaciers flows into the Atlantic, changing the salinity and temperature of the ocean, it could cause the Amoc to collapse and plunge the UK into a much colder climate while accelerating warmth in the tropics, with some scientists predicting this may happen next century.

Chair of the polar research sub-committee, James Gray, said: “For too long the effects of a changing Arctic have been out of sight, out of mind.

“Before melting glaciers and ice sheets contribute to widespread flooding and irreversible weather patterns in the UK, we must throw our full toolbox at understanding changes in the Arctic better.

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“We must prioritise and put more funding behind scientific and multi-disciplinary research.

“At the moment, Arctic science is concentrated on its summer, with the Arctic winter – which could tell us an enormous amount about the weather – being under-studied.

“More collaboration is needed among UK universities to avoid repetition of scientific endeavours seeking out the same information, and with our international partners to learn and share resource.”

A Government spokesperson added: “The UK holds a prominent position in global Arctic research, ranking among the top four nations in peer-reviewed Arctic research output, while allocating approximately £10 million annually for Arctic science projects.

“The UK is a committed observer to the Arctic Council and we stand ready to increase our participation further.

“Additionally, we are investing £5.2 billion in the UK’s flood defences by 2027 to enhance protection for hundreds of thousands of properties both now and in the future.”