British businesses have been urged to embrace the challenge of climate change.

Speaking at the CBI's annual conference, Robert Napier, chairman of the Met Office, said too many firms had not yet prepared for the impact of global warming.

Climate change, he said, represented both a challenge and an opportunity for the business community, urging delegates to make use of the support his organisation could provide.

"The Met Office has some of the best weather and climate change science in the world," Mr Napier said.

"We can help British business achieve competitive advantage by being at the forefront of both climate change mitigation and adaptation.

"There is of course uncertainty and we have to consider the future of the climate in terms of probabilities," he added.

A Met Office poll revealed that 57 per cent of businesses had not made any preparations for how climate change could affect their operations.

This follows the devastating floods in the summer, which some climate experts have blamed on a hotter climate.

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