power station near Liverpool
© ReutersCoal fired power station near Liverpool.

The most comprehensive climate change projections ever produced show the UK is facing temperature rises of between 3.6F (2C) and 10.8F (6C) by 2080.

Droughts will become commonplace in the South East by 2040 and there will be less rain in the summer and more in the winter, with more storms leading to widespread flooding, particularly in the North of the country.

Presenting the findings of the UK Climate Projections 09 study, Hilary Benn said the predicted changes would "transform the way we live".

He said that the heatwave that killed 2,000 people in 2003 would become "normal". Infectious diseases in humans and animals are likely to become more widespread because bugs will not be killed off during the winter.

Mr Benn warned that health authorities, councils, developers and farmers would all have to change the way they worked to deal with the problems of climate change. Buildings would have to be made more able to cope with hotter summers and flooding while water metres would have to be installed to help cut use.

He said: "Those in society who still think this isn't happening and we don't need to worry, who think we can pull up the bedcovers and it'll all go away are profoundly mistaken."

He added: "These results are sobering, and we know that they will affect every aspect of our daily lives."

The Met Office, which led the study, predicted the hottest day in London will reach 100F (37.8C) by 2050 rising to more than 104F (40C) by 2080. Summer temperatures now in inland parts of Spain or coastal Turkey typically reach 113F (45C).

Sea levels will rise by 7ins (18cm) by the 2040s. The North West could have 35 per cent more rain in the winter by the 2080s while across the country rainfall could go up by more than fifth.

By the end of the century there could be almost 3.3ft (1m) of additional storm surges.

For the first time the projections consider the effect on every region in the UK using the most advanced climate change modelling in the world developed by the Hadley Centre of Climate Prediction and Research over 12 years.

Mr Benn said it was more important than ever to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the UK and support an ambitious global deal on climate change at a UN meeting in Copenhagen in December.

President Obama recently revealed a similar report warming of the effects of climate change on the US and the Met Office report is also expected to influence policy.

Ed Miliband, the Climate Change Secretary, "These projections add to the overwhelming body of scientific evidence that says mankind must cut carbon emissions now to prevent a future of extreme weather patterns which could threaten the livelihoods of people across the world as well as put plants, animals and sea life in peril."

However, Nick Herbert, the Tories environment spokesman, said the UK Government needed to act faster.

"Isn't the message of the Met Office's projections not only that action to reduce carbon emissions is essential to avoid very serious climate change events in future but that we need to begin preparing now for significant changes in the environment which we can no longer avoid," he said.

Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace, said: "Some of the world's leading climate scientists have clearly explained what our country faces," he said.

"If the government continues to push for new runways and new coal-fired power stations, they can no longer claim they didn't realise the damage they were causing."