The Prime Minister warned today that Britain faced more severe weather in the coming years and called for international action to tackle "freak climate changes".

Mr Blair said it would be necessary not only to take short term measures such as improving flood defences but also on an international level to take "difficult decisions on climate change."

Responding to Tory Leader William Hague at Prime Minister's Question Time, Mr Blair said the Government would look at the suggestion of the Commons Agricultural Select Committee that responsibility for dealing with flooding is too fragmented.

Mr Hague called for a review of the Environment Agency's powers in dealing with flooding.

But Mr Blair insisted the Government had already spent more money on flood defences than ever before.

"We have to look at an international level at what we can do to reduce the incidence of these freak climate changes," he said.