This waterlogged corner of England was once only habitable during summer. Climate change could make it so again

Flooding across the Somerset Levels in January 2026. Vortex525/Shutterstock

Standing on the hills looking out across flat green fields, linked by a network of hedgerows, copses and small settlements, the Somerset Levels looks like quintessential English countryside.

But this region’s rivers, drains, waterways and wetlands are integral to the levels’ history – an inhospitable, and at times perilously flooded, watery world, centuries ago only habitable during the summer months.

Right now...