The Government is “not ready” for extreme weather events like Storm Darragh, the new chair of the Climate Change Committee has warned.

Emma Pinchbeck, head of the government’s independent climate advisory panel, told the BBC on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that Britain had “lost its way” and needed to do more to prepare for scenarios such as flooding and intense heat.

Storm Darragh brought gusts of 96 mph on Saturday, Two men died during the storm and thousands were left without power. It was the fourth severe storm to hit Britain since mid-October.

The UK government has committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, as scientists warn the number of extreme weather events will increase as the climate warms.

However, Pinchbeck said adjustments to homes and communities were needed immediately “regardless of what you think we should do in terms of emissions reductions.”

In her first television interview since taking over as executive director of the Committee on Climate Change, she said: “We’re no longer on track to where we should be – and that’s on things like flood defences, or are our houses built on flood plains?”

“Are our cities ready for extreme heat in summer? Those basic things.”

Pinchbeck said the UK needed to prepare for further extreme weather events like Saturday’s storm, adding: “We need to prepare our infrastructure for this.”

“We have to prepare the economy for this. We have to prepare our houses for this.”

The government’s own climate risk assessment, published in 2022, warned that the impacts of a changing environment could cost the UK billions of pounds a year.

It says efforts must be made to prepare for the impact of the 4°C warning, regardless of international agreements with targets to limit warming to 1.5°C.

Pinchbeck continued: “There are risks to our food yields, there are risks to where we can build safe homes for people, and risks to our cities built on coasts.”

“These things are very obvious and we should act now to address them.”

Pressed on whether enough was being done to prepare for an increasing number of extreme weather events, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told the BBC the government had already put more money into flood defenses.

She also said that environmental factors would be taken into account as ministers are pushing ahead with plans to build 1.5 million new homes across the UK in the next five years.

BBC News has asked the government to respond to Pinchbeck’s comments.