MORE than a quarter of people say the winter floods that hit Britain have strengthened their belief in man-made climate change, according to a survey released yesterday.

Half of the people polled for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said widespread flooding in early 2014 made them more convinced the climate was changing, while 27 per cent said the floods had also increased their belief humans were the main cause.

But the poll of of 2,021 people by ComRes also revealed misconceptions about climate science, despite a majority of people claiming to be very or fairly well informed on the subject.

Only one in nine people (11 per cent) thought that almost all climate scientists believe that human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, are mainly responsible for rising temperatures.

The widespread misconception — in fact 90 per cent of climate scientists believe humans are the main driver of global warming — has “uncomfortable echoes” of the MMR controversy 15 years ago, ECIU said.