Flooding, wildfires and extreme weather threaten the future of nearly three-quarters of sites managed by the National Trust, a new report says.

The charity says climate change is “the single biggest threat” facing its 28,500 historic homes, 250,000 hectares of land and 780 miles of coastline. In Monday’s report, the trust called on the UK government to do more to help organisations adapt to climate change. The government said it had a five-year plan to boost the country’s resilience.

Patrick Begg, the trust’s natural resources director, said that climate change demanded “urgent and unswerving attention” and presented “the single biggest threat to the places in our care”. The trust is monitoring the climate change threats posed to its stately homes, museum collections, parks, gardens and land holdings by mapping current extreme weather events, such as downpours, flooding, drought and wildfires.

Read more