The recent storms that have brought heavy rain and floods to much of the UK cannot definitely be linked to climate change, the Met Office has said. A spokesman said that was "a research project which hasn't been done". On Wednesday, Prime Minister David Cameron said he "very much" suspected that an increase in abnormal weather events was linked to climate change. Almost 100 flood warnings are still in place in England, along with four in Scotland and one in Wales. Eight people have been killed in flooding and weather-related incidents since severe weather began before Christmas, and hundreds of homes and businesses flooded. The Met Office's Dan Williams said: "No attribution study has been done, so you can't make a definitive statement about how more or less likely the recent flooding has become because of climate change." In terms of the global picture, he said, "there has been some observed increase in some types of extreme weather and there is some evidence, depending on which types of extreme weather you are talking about, of a link between man-made climate change and some types of extreme weather". He added: "You can't say definitively that an event is caused by climate change and climate change only because we have always had extreme weather. "But the chances of extreme weather occurring may have altered because of climate change. So it would be consistent with the picture we have seen of increasing rainfall in the UK over the past few decades." Speaking at the first Prime Minister's Questions of 2014 on Wednesday, Mr Cameron said the Cobra emergency committee would continue holding meetings about the impact of recent storms "until the threat has passed". In response to a question about the extreme weather, Mr Cameron said: "I agree with you that we are seeing more abnormal weather events. Colleagues across the House can argue about whether that is linked to climate change or not. I very much suspect that it is." A band of heavy rain swept across south-west England and into Wales and other parts of western England on Wednesday, falling on already saturated ground. The Environment Agency said water was still draining into rivers, meaning some would continue to rise. Many of the flood warnings now in force, which are mostly in the south of England, are for the River Thames. And forecasters are predicting possible snow in northern and eastern parts of the UK next week. BBC Weather's Emma Boorman said cooler temperatures would set in from Thursday, becoming colder over the weekend. "There is a snow risk for the north and east [of the UK], but not immediately," she said. On Monday, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said 1,700 homes and businesses in England had been flooded in the storms. At that time 140 properties in Wales were also known to have flooded. More rain has fallen in many areas since then, but new figures for the number of properties affected have not been released.

• published: 09 Jan 2014
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