Climate change is posing a serious threat to Britain’s heritage, the National Trust warned on Thursday, with extremes of much wetter and drier weather than usual taking their toll on buildings and beauty spots.

Fiona Reynolds, director-general, said that the Trust was in the position of the “canary in the mine” for the UK, as it managed such a diversity of properties - old buildings, 1130km of coastline, farms and areas of natural beauty - across the UK.