ONCE Parliament breaks up for the summer, it's a fair bet that Tony Blair will pack his shorts, suntan oil and shades and jet off on holiday.

In recent years the PM and his family have swanned off to Tuscany, Barbados, Egypt, the south of France and Mexico within days of him locking his office.

He likes his tropical climes, does Tony. But in future, he won't need to travel far from Downing Street to enjoy searing temperatures and wander among olive groves, vines and sunflower fields.

For scientists predict huge swathes of southern England could take on a distinctly Mediterranean look within 50 years as native woodlands are threatened by warmer, drier summers.

But the hallmarks of global warming could leave the PM with an almighty headache - and not just because he has suffered severe heatstroke from spending too much time out in the midday sun.

Environmentalists reckon that while England becomes hotter, swathes of the north will also become more humid and wetter. Tropical-style downpours could become commonplace.

The prospect of growing climate-linked problems came home to roost for Mr Blair during a heated Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons this week.

He was challenged by Conservative MP Anne McIntosh to set aside funds to pay for the cost of repairing damage wreaked by Sunday's devastating flash-floods in North Yorkshire.

Livestock was swept away and homes, businesses, roads and bridges ruined as about a month's rain fell in just three hours near Helmsley, causing swollen rivers to burst their banks.

But Mr Blair ignored the request to "dig deep" into Government coffers - pointing out that ministers were already investing some £500m each year in flood and coastal erosion management.

In theory, he's right. Most taxpayers would agree frittering millions on flood defences at places such as Helmsley and Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe would be irresponsible.

These places are not normally subject to flooding. Sunday's problems were caused by the sheer intensity of the deluge coupled with the fact the sun-baked valley sides could not absorb the water.

However, there is little doubt that Mr Blair and his Government's departments are beginning to look increasingly seriously at how to tackle the problems of flooding.

Barely a few months go by now without TVs and newspapers showing images of British towns and villages lying under several feet of water, rescue dinghies sailing slowly down inland high streets.

There is a grim roll-call of the drenched this century: York, 2000; Llandudno, 2001; Worcester, 2002; Chertsey, 2003; Airedale and Boscastle, 2004; Carlisle, 2005.

With them there are myriad heart-wrenchingly pitiful images - pensioners being dragged sobbing from homes, people inspecting water-damaged properties, vehicles floating away.

None of it helps convince the public that the Government is getting to grips with a problem it has been told will get worse as Britain's climate changes.

Insiders at Whitehall insist the issue of flooding - and the misery it causes - is now getting the kind of attention it deserves from ministers.

On a global scale, Mr Blair is keen to put climate change at the top of the agenda for the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, next month.

But policies which will help flood-threatened communities from North Yorkshire to Norfolk are also set to be unveiled over forthcoming months, according to sources.

MPs such as Miss McIntosh, City of York's Hugh Bayley and Ryedale's John Greenway, who are sick and tired of having to deal with the aftermath of flooding, are likely keep pressing ministers.

If Mr Blair doesn't want to be persistently harangued over the lack of flood protection in far-flung parts of Britain - whether he is on holiday or not - he would do well to act.

Updated: 10:38 Friday, June 24, 2005