In recent years, the UK has faced extreme weather events due to climate change including droughts, wildfires and floods. The country faced six major storms over the past year, including some of the highest wind speeds recorded in over 30 years.

A report from the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy suggests that failures at the top of government could worsen the potential impact of extreme weather in the future.

In recent years, wind and flooding have had a significant effect on the UK’s railways, accelerating asset deterioration and increasing the likelihood of “critical coping thresholds” for railway operators being exceeded, such as on rail temperatures or drainage capacity.

UK telecoms is also at risk from “all types of flooding, high winds and lightning strikes”, the report said, and our energy supply can be disrupted by a range of severe weather events, particularly storms.

Without further investment in water storage or transfer infrastructure...