Close to 200,000 English properties could be in danger due to rising sea levels.

That’s according to a study published in the Ocean and Coastal Management Journal, revealing that climate change could lead to a third of the country’s coast being under pressure from sea levels.

The report stresses that current defence systems are not good enough to protect against this threat.

It marks out the Southwest, Northwest and East Anglia as the areas most at risk to flooding and coastal erosion.

Lead author Paul Sayers explains: “It just won’t be possible to hold the line all around the coast.

“These are the places we are going to hold and these are the places we’re not going to hold, so we need that honest debate around how we’re going to do that and support communities where they are affected.”

The cost is also highlighted as a key barrier to developing the necessary protection for many of these properties, with Sayers stating, “there’s not going to be money, under current funding rules to protect everyone.”