As changes in weather patterns continue many people living in the Thames basin will find themselves increasingly at risk from floods and droughts, a new report reveals.

Borough residents are also being alerted to the fact that the river “will become a very different environment” with the continued onset of climate change.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) UK’s Thames Vulnerability Assessment Report revealed that numbers of plants, fish and other animals are likely to decline as a result.

Co-ordinator of the Thames Landscape Strategy, Jason Debney, said the report tied together issues that he had been discussing with colleagues for several years. He said: “It put it together in one report.

“We are at risk and the Thames is going to change.

“It will become a very different environment to what we are used to.

“On a human scale it will affect people who live and work along the river.”

Mr Debney views the findings as “an opportunity for this area to start putting the wonderful mosaic of habitat and environment back”.

One of the key areas being targeted is the restoration of lost flood plains.

These include areas such as Syon Park, Petersham Meadows, Kew Gardens, Royal Mid-Surrey golf course and Ham Lands.

Consultation with people in Ham has already been taking place to determine how Ham Lands can be managed to allow flooding to take place without causing damage, while retaining the landscape residents “cherish” and “the feeling of enclosure and the wildlife”.

Mr Debney used Old Deer Park in Richmond as another area “not functioning properly as a flood plain”.

In addition to installing dry routes – “little undulations in the landscape like grass banks” – he suggested putting in a pipe under the tow path and putting natural streams into the park to let water in and let it flow back out.

“We can put a whole series of habitats in – trees and hedgerows,” he said.

The WWF report predicts the chance of rivers flooding in the Thames basin may be five times higher by the 2080s.

It also claims the estimated population increase will put more pressure on water supplies and systems.

London’s antiquated sewage system could lead to a rise in sewer flooding and insurance premiums could rise.