The UK Climate Projections 2018 study is the most up to date assessment of how the UK will change over this century.

It says that under the highest emissions scenario, summer temperatures could be 5.4C hotter by 2070.

The chances of a summer as warm as 2018 are around 50% by 2050.

The most alarming figure in the report is the projection of summer temperatures up to 5.4C warmer than the pre-industrial period.

This would only happen, according to the Met Office if the world was to continue increasing emissions of carbon dioxide rather than reducing them as most governments intend.

But even under a low emissions scenario (where the , the Met Office says that the UK will see an average yearly temperature increase of 2.3C by 2100.

Summers as warm as the one just past, are likely to be very common, with a 50% chance of occurring. In the recent past, says the Met Office, the chances of seeing a summer as warm as 2018 was only around 10%.

These warmer summers of the future are likely to be much drier too, with average summer rainfall dropping by 47% by 2070.

Raised sea levels are also one of the consequences of a warmer world and according to the report, they could rise by 1.15 metres in London by 2100.

The report says the UK is set to see an increase in both the frequency and magnitude of extreme water levels.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove praised the new study as an "invaluable tool."

"It is clear that the planet and its weather patterns are changing before our eyes." he said, launching the report at the Science Museum in London.

"We know, more than ever before, the urgency of acting."

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