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 The first national assessment of the country's readiness for the impacts of global warming has found the UK was very poorly prepared for the changes, with fewer than one in 15 companies, local authorities and other public bodies taking action to tackle the issue, it says

."It's the typical British disease that we're good at talking and planning, but less good at acting," said Lord John Krebs, the chairman of the report group. "All too often adaptation is name-checked in policies but it's not clear what that means on the ground."

 Cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 from 1990 levels is still essential but the UK also needs to adapt to ensure it is prepared for temperature increases, more intense rainfall and rising sea levels, the report said.

 UK temperatures are already 1 degree centigrade higher than they were in the 1970s. Seas have been rising, coastlines eroding, species moving steadily north, and heat waves becoming more frequent, and there have been more intense rainfall events. Insured losses from weather-related events currently cost the United Kingdom £1.5 billion a year on average, and events like the 2003 heat wave that killed 2,000 people in the country could become the norm by the end of the century.

 "By planning ahead and taking timely adaptation action, the UK could halve the costs and damages from moderate amounts of warming," the report said.

 The report, by the Climate Change Committee's adaptation sub-committee, also calls for speedy action by the government to introduce regulations and funding before it is too late.

 "The UK must start acting now to prepare for climate change. If we wait, it will be too late," said John Krebs, chair of the Adaptation Sub-Committee on Climate Change, an independent body which advises the government on climate adaptation.

 "If no action is taken, there will be very significant costs on households and businesses and the UK will miss out on some business opportunities as well," Krebs told reporters at a briefing saying that water meters should be used to send “price signals” to tell householders to limit their consumption.

 He made the call as the Coalition prepared to warn that water can no longer be seen as an “infinite resource”, forcing changes in families’ daily lives. That could also mean using bathwater to flush toilets, and even greater use of hosepipe bans. Watering the garden could bring increased charges, he suggests.

 The report says the government has to set clear goals on adaptation; provide timely and practical information on why and how to go about meeting them; and ensure that climate change adaptation is integral to all planning, infrastructure, resource and building design decisions and relevant policies.

 Facing crippling debts inherited from the banking crisis and the global recession, the government, which took power in May after 13 years of Labour rule, has set its sights on massive spending cuts in a bid to quickly bring the budget deficit down.

 But the report runs strenuously in the opposite direction. It says adaptation should not take the place of efforts to cap and cut climate-changing carbon emissions -- the United Kingdom has a legal goal to cut them by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. Up to now, adaptation had been the poor relation and urgently needed to be bolstered, the committee said.

 At the moment just 30 per cent of households in England and Wales have water meters, although the devices are common in most other European countries. On average a household with a meter will use 10 to 15 per cent less water that one without.

 Lord Krebs said the need to adapt to climate change means metering must become more widespread.

 Ministers should introduce water meters with a sliding price scale, charging people more for water beyond a certain amount, he said.

 At the moment the average person uses 150 litres of water a day. The Government’s current water strategy says that must fall to 130 litres.

 Given the almost total silence from the government on green issues in recent months, there are fears that other climate change-related projects could be in the firing line, despite declarations from Prime Minister David Cameron from the outset that his government intends to be the greenest ever.

 "Climate change will have a massive impact on us all, so it is essential that the coalition takes urgent steps to protect us from its impacts, while pulling out all the stops to prevent more extreme temperature rises," said climate campaigner Craig Bennett of environmental group Friends of the Earth.

 "Failure to invest in climate action would be a dangerous and expensive mistake, leaving a far bigger bill for future generations to pick up. Ministers mustn't short-change the climate when the spending review is unveiled next month," he added.