The South Pacific islands that make up Fiji are in the grip of a “frightening new era” of extreme weather, the country’s prime minister has said, after flooding from a cyclone has killed at least four people.

Voreqe Bainimarama said the island nation now faces a “fight for survival” as climate change brings “almost constant” deadly tropical cyclones.

The islands avoided a direct hit by Cyclone Josie on Sunday, but the storm brought heavy rains, high winds and flooding, which caused extensive damage to homes, businesses and vehicles on the main island of Viti Levu.

More than 1,000 people remained in evacuation centres this week following the cyclone.

Mr Bainimarama said climate change was causing extreme weather events to become more severe and occur more often.

In 2016 Cyclone Winston, the most intense tropical storm in the southern hemisphere on record, left 44 people dead and 40,000 homes significantly damaged or destroyed after making landfall on Fiji.

The category 5 cyclone saw ten-minute sustained wind speeds of 175kmh (110mph), and a record wind gust of 306kmh (190mph) was measured.

In the past, major storms have been less frequent on the islands, with the strongest cyclone before Winston being the Category 4 cyclone Evan, in 2012, in which no one died. The deadliest cyclone before Winston was 1979’s Cyclone Meli, which claimed 53 lives.

"We are now at an almost constant level of threat from these extreme weather events," Mr Bainimarama said on Tuesday.

Climate change had made the danger “more severe”, he said, and called for global action on reducing carbon emissions. “We need to get the message out loud and clear to the entire world about the absolute need to confront this crisis head on.”

“As a nation we are starting to build our resilience in response to the frightening new era that is upon us.” It is a “fight for our very survival”, he added. “We are now at an almost constant level of threat”.

10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke – filled with the carbon that is driving climate change – drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. “Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals,” says the photographer. “Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow.” Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a “public health emergency”. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan

He urged countries to act to limit the global temperature increase, as agreed under the Paris climate accord.

“It is the only way to prevent catastrophe for the whole world and especially for vulnerable nations such as our own,” he said.