Climate change in the future could leave popular Mediterranean holiday resorts too hot for British tourists.

A senior research scientist at the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit has told a conference on climate and tourism that average overall temperatures throughout the region will rise by at least 2.5?C within 20 years reports the Evening Standard.

Further, by the middle of the 21st century, summer temperatures will have increased by more than 4?C, with the average night and day temperatures in Spain rising from about 25.5?C now, to 30?C.

Lengthy heatwaves will probably happen in nine years out of ten throughout much of the southern and eastern Mediterranean by the middle of the century, with night temperatures becoming "unbearable" for people unaccustomed to them.

However, the upside for the UK’s tourist industry could be a resurgence of interest in the British seaside resort, with the summer climate on the UK’s south coast at the end of the century being similar to that of Bordeaux at the present time. Details: www.thisislondon.co.uk