Drought, low precipitation and global warming are all problems threatening Mediterranean regions, but other causes, such as intensive agricultural use, might affect desertification.

“It’s around one metre, bang there in the middle”. Professor Tim Lenton, professor of Earth Systems Science at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, sounds very pleased when he hears that policy-makers now officially revise the estimated sea level rise for London to around +94 cm within a century.

Lovingly tended to as far as Kristianstad in Sweden, palms have never had it so good in Northern European gardens. The UK, which has not had a seriously cold winter for about 10 years, is a case in point.

Just a few decades ago the Chusan palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) started to spread and regenerate outside the gardens in forests across the borderline region of southern Switzerland and North Italy.

London planners should prepare for the possibility that the sea level rise will be up +94 centimetres by the end of this century.