David Lammy sounds alarm on global warming 'accelerating towards us' as thousands flee central Europe floods

David Lammy sounded the alarm over global warming “accelerating towards us” as thousands of people were told to flee to higher ground as devastating floods hit central Europe.

The Foreign Secretary vowed to put the “climate and nature emergency at the centre of UK foreign policy”.

In a keynote speech in London, he was set to say: “This crisis is not some discrete policy area, divorced from geopolitics, conflict and insecurity.

“The threat may not feel as urgent as a terrorist or an imperialist autocrat.

“But it is more fundamental. It is systemic. Pervasive. And accelerating towards us.”

His comments came as exceptionally heavy rainfall pounding Central Europe prompted deadly flooding in the region, with four new deaths reported Monday in Poland, three in the Czech Republic and one in Romania.

The flooding has swamped parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania as a low-pressure system crossing the region has unleashed record-high rains for days, and it was expected to affect Slovakia and Hungary later in the week. So far 16 people have been reported killed - seven people in Romania, five in Poland, three in the Czech Republic and one in Austria.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell said: “The destruction caused by flooding across swathes of Europe is terrible to see.

“It is a stark reminder that climate change is far from a distant threat & the UK must deliver on its £11.6b pledge to tackle its devastating effects.”

In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk held an emergency meeting and later declared a disaster in flooded areas, a government measure to facilitate evacuation and rescues.

The flooding in Poland has burst dams and embankments while receding waters left streets covered in piles of debris and mud. It prompted a hospital in the southwestern Polish city of Nysa to evacuate about 40 patients.

The mayor of Nysa is also urging all 44,000 residents to evacuate from their homes.

Kordian Kolbiarz told people to head for higher ground, warning of the risk of an embankment breaching and releasing a torrent of water into the town from a nearby lake.

Schools and offices in the affected areas were closed Monday and drinking water and food were being delivered by trucks. Many Polish cities, including Warsaw, have called for food donations for flood survivors.

Experts warned of flood threats due to the cresting Oder River in Opole, a city of some 130,000 residents, and Wroclaw, home to about 640,000 residents and where disastrous flooding happened in 1997.

Firefighters in southwestern Poland said flood victims included a surgeon whose body was found Monday morning in Nysa after he returned from hospital duty. The bodies of two women and two other men have been found in other communities in the region.

Police in the Czech Republic said that a woman and two men drowned in the northeast, which has been pounded by record rainfall since Thursday. The woman was found in the water in the town of Krasov and the men were found dead at different locations after water receded in the town of Krnov which was almost completely submerged on Sunday

Romanian authorities said Monday that another person died in the eastern county of Galati, bringing the total number of deaths there to seven.

One death previously was reported in Austria.

Authorities in the Czech Republic declared an emergency in two northeastern regions, including in the Jeseniky mountains near the Polish border.

A number of towns and cities had been submerged in the northeast, with thousands evacuated. Military helicopters joined rescuers on boats in efforts to transport people to safety. Waters were receding from the mountainous areas on Monday, leaving behind destroyed houses and bridges and damaged roads.

In most parts of the country, conditions were expected to improve later Monday.

Central Europe Floods: September 0242

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala visited the town of Jesenik, one of the hardest hit places.

“The worst is behind us and now, we have to deal with all the damage,” Fiala said following the visit.

In Hungary, the mayor of Budapest warned residents that the largest floods in a decade were expected to hit the capital later in the week, with the waters of the Danube River set to breach the city’s lower quays by Tuesday morning.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán canceled his planned foreign engagements, including an address to a plenary session of the European Parliament on Wednesday where heated debates were expected over his conduct since Hungary took over the European Union’s rotating presidency in July.

“Until we reach the peak and get past the worst of it, I naturally won’t be leaving the country, I’ll be here at home,” he said.

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony wrote on Facebook that the city would use 1 million sandbags to bolster flood defenses, and asked residents to take extra care when near the river.

In London, Mr Lammy was due to say Labour is “firing the starting gun” on its pledge to create a global clean power alliance that will facilitate sharing knowledge and technology to help more countries reach net-zero emissions.

The alliance also aims to help countries “leapfrog” fossil fuels and transition to renewable power systems with global investment and finance and to speed up the supply of critical minerals needed for energy grids and energy storage.

Mr Lammy and the Foreign Office will push for ambitious pledges on climate finance and reduced emissions at Cop29, the department said in a statement.

He will reinstate the UK Special Representative for Climate Change role and create a new UK Special Representative for Nature to help forge partnerships between the UK and other countries.