Drought and flood fears after warm 2014

New figures published by the Met Office show the period from January to October this year has been the warmest since records began in 1910

By Kate Ferguson

The UK is on course to experience the warmest and one of the wettest years since records began more than a century ago - sparking fears that future droughts and flash floods could cost lives.

New figures published by the Met Office show the period from January to October this year has been the warmest since records began in 1910 while it has also been the second wettest.

Unless November and December are extremely cold, 2014 will enter the record books as the hottest ever.

Experts say the increase is the result of climate change.

Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said the elderly and those with health problems could end up dying in the heat.

He accused the Government of failing to "get to grips with climate change" and said it needed to plough more money into flood defences and said unless drastic action is taken, Britain could see a repeat of the 2007 floods which swamped large swathes of England and Northern Ireland.