By 2050, 200,000 homes in England could be underwater, according to a map

According to a study, about 200,000 houses and businesses in England are at risk of being lost to the sea by 2050.

Scientists fear that if sea levels rise by 35cm in the next three decades, some coastal areas may not be able to be protected.

Experts are now urging action on flooding after finding that sea levels will increase by about a meter by the end of the century, according to their research.

Due to escalating costs along the thousand-mile English coast, the current approach of holding the line against wave erosion may soon become impractical or unfeasible.

By the 2050s, 120,000 to 160,000 dwellings – excluding trailers – might be affected, with many requiring relocation.

This amount excludes clifftop homes that are currently at risk, as well as the 30,000 to 35,000 properties in places where the coast is being realigned.

Single communities with dispersed clusters of homes and structures on a lengthy flood plain, such as the Somerset Levels, are the most vulnerable.

Cornwall’s small quay and coastal harbour towns, as well as sites with a short space between the shoreline and rising ground, will be on high alert.

Lead author Paul Sayers, an engineering consultant at the University of East Anglia, said: ‘Significant sea level rise is now inevitable.

‘For many of our larger cities at the coast protection will continue to be provided but for some coastal communities this may not be possible.

‘We need a serious national debate about the scale of the threat to these communities and what represents a fair and sustainable response, including how to help people to relocate.’

Responding to the study, Professor Jim Hall at the University of Oxford, said: ‘We need to have honest conversations with coastal communities that it will simply not be possible to protect every house and business from sea level rise.

‘These changes are coming sooner than we might think and we need to plan now for how we can adjust, including a nationwide strategic approach to deciding how to manage the coast sustainably in the future.’