Beautiful county set to lose 100s of homes to rising seas and crumbling cliffs

A beautiful county is set to lose hundreds of homes to rising seas and crumbling cliffs.

The Environment Agency (EA) has found that over 1,000 homes could be lost on the East Yorkshire coast by 2025. It is one of the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe, according to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, with 4.5m lost to the sea each year.

The agency also found that over 115,000 properties are at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers and the sea in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

The report said that under “future warming scenarios”, the number of homes in flood risk and coastal erosion areas is “likely to increase”.

The EA said its report used improved modelling to predict the possible impact of climate change in the area.

Landlord of the Crown and Anchor in Kilnsea, David Whitaker, said the pub’s proximity to the sea made it “vulnerable” in bad weather. “We do get spray when we have a storm and it’s just like being at sea,” he told the BBC.

“It can cover even the upstairs window.”

Parts of the original village, including its church and graveyard, were lost to the sea in the 19th Century.

Mr Whitaker said what’s left could see the same fate in the coming decades. “It happened in Old Kilnsea down the road, I daresay it will here at some point,” he said.

Around eight million properties in England – or one in four – could be at risk of flooding by 2050 as the danger increases due to climate change.

Currently, the EA says that 4.6 million homes and businesses are at risk of surface flooding, with London being the most affected region.

This is a 43% rise on its previous estimate, but this is almost entirely due to improved datasets and computer modelling techniques, rather than a real-world increase in flood risk.

Between October 2023 and March 2024, for example, the amount of rainfall on the stormiest days in the UK increased by 20% on average due to climate change.