Britain's head weather scientist says climate change is likely a factor in the extreme weather that has hit much of the country in recent months.

While the always-variable British climate means there is "no definitive answer" to what caused the storms, Met Office chief scientist Julia Slingo said, "all the evidence suggests there is a link to climate change."

More than 130 severe flood warnings have been issued since December, compared with only nine in all of 2012, the Met Office said.

More than 5,000 properties have been flooded, the country's Environment Agency said.

"We have records going back to 1766 and we have nothing like this," Slingo told the BBC. "We have seen some exceptional weather. We can't say it is unprecedented but it is exceptional."

"There is no evidence to counter the basic premise that a warmer world will lead to more intense daily and hourly rain events," she said.