Fears grow that huge area of UK home to 400k could be underwater within 75 years

Time is running out to save a huge area of the UK which could be underwater within 75 years unless the unprecedented challenge is addressed.

The Fens, a low-lying, flat, marshy region in eastern England, is one of the UK’s most vital agricultural and ecological areas.

However, the Fens are facing an array of significant challenges from climate change, floods, droughts and biodiversity collapse, reports groundbreaking research from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia.

The report illuminates the need for immediate coordinated efforts to mitigate the risks now affecting local communities found.

Key findings include that global warming could exceed 2C between the 2030s and 2050s. This could intensify flooding risks, extreme weather events, and changes in agricultural productivity due to reduced water availability could evolve.

By the 2050s to 2070s, with 2.2-3.4C warming, major flooding events, severe droughts, and rising sea levels could critically threaten infrastructure and communities.

And most alarmingly, if we see a 4C increase by 2100, the widespread ecosystem could collapse and make parts of the Fens uninhabitable.

The area of land which makes up the Fens and coastal lowlands covers 5,000 sq km and is largely below sea level. Water levels must be managed 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

As well as this, more than half of the UK’s most fertile land is in the Fens – providing a fifth of the nation’s crops and a third of its vegetables. Flood risk management assets currently secure 370,000ha of agricultural land across the fens.

On the back of these findings, Express.co.uk spoke to the Environment Agency on the distressing projections.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said that worryingly, 400,000 people live in areas at risk of flooding from the main rivers and the sea and already a whopping 17,000 flood and water management assets are in place to make the Fens possible to live and work in.

The statement read: “These findings underscore the urgent need to address the challenges posed by climate change in the Fens – a landscape largely below sea level and exposed to flood risk from the sea, rivers, groundwater, and surface water.

“Already, 17,000 flood and water management assets, including pumping stations and flood barriers, are deployed to better protect the Fens, nearby farmland and vital road and rail infrastructure. Our Fens 2100+ programme is our response to the long-term challenge of furthering protection.

“This partnership brings together flood risk management authorities and representatives from agricultural communities to develop a fens-wide flood resilience investment strategy, enabling this unique landscape to adapt to the impacts of climate change now and into the future.”

Fens 2100+ is a £9.8 million programme to develop a Fens-wide flood resilience investment strategy that achieves long-term value for money and generates regional and national benefits.

It is a partnership project between the Environment Agency; Association of Drainage Authorities (ADA); Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs); National Farmers Union (NFU); and Anglian Northern and Great Ouse Regional Flood & Coastal Committees (RFCCs).

The programme is being developed with, and for, Flood Risk Management Authorities so they can plan for the next 20-25 years of flood risk management. This investment strategy will be completed in 2025.