FLOOD-HIT communities in York are in the "frontline of climate chaos", Friends of the Earth claimed today.

The environmental campaign group marked the 10th anniversary of the Climate Change Act by claiming urgent action was still needed to prevent runaway climate change.

It said York had been included in its national list of frontlines due to the impact of extreme rainfall and flooding, which risked "getting ever more brutal" due to government failure to take necessary action.

“Residents of York are all too familiar with the impact of climate chaos,” said a spokesman. “The extreme rainfall brought about by Storm Eva led to the rivers Foss and Ouse bursting their banks. This left huge sections of the city underwater.

“The flooding caused millions of pounds’ worth of damage, leaving homes submerged and some businesses closed for months.

“An investigation following the floods of 2015/16 concluded that such extreme regional rainfall has a return period of about five years (20 per cent chance in any given year) and is at present roughly 60 per cent more likely due to human-caused climate change.”

Selena Whitehead, who saw her York home flooded in 2012 and 2015, said she had to wake her children up at midnight on Boxing Day 2015 and get them to a neighbour’s house on higher ground as water levels rose, and then move between temporary houses while waiting for the water to recede and her home to dry out.

“There is no doubt that more regular extreme weather is causing us to be at increased risk of flooding,” she said.

“I feel that the Government has largely side-lined dealing with climate change, with Brexit seeming to take up all their time and resources.”

Simon Bowens, Friends of the Earth coordinator for Yorkshire, claimed York was living under the constant threat of flooding while the Government failed to commit to the action needed to tackle the threat of climate change.