Youth climate change activists in the UK have been forced to cancel their first ever national conference due to flooding brought on by Storm Dennis.

The conference in Staffordshire was due to start on Sunday but police have advised that the event should not go ahead due to safety concerns, according to the UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN).

Heavy rain had made roads around the venue impassable, the group said.

The cancellation came after Storm Dennis brought flooding and dangerous weather conditions to the UK, prompting the Environment Agency (EA) to issue more than 200 flood warnings.

Sophia Coningham, a 15-year-old climate activist from London, said there was a “bleak irony” in the conference being shut down by extreme weather.

Storm Dennis in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Storm Dennis in pictures Storm Dennis in pictures Flood water surrounds Upton upon Severn in Worcestershire. Severe flood warnings remain in place in the wake of Storm Dennis, with more rain expected to fall in the week PA Storm Dennis in pictures A husky and its owner are rescued by emergency services after flooding in Nantgarw, Wales after Storm Dennis hit the UK PA Storm Dennis in pictures Waves crash against the harbour wall in Isle of Whithorn Getty Storm Dennis in pictures An employee cleans a nail salon on Market street in Pontypridd after Storm Dennis hits the UK leading to widespread flooding PA Storm Dennis in pictures Flooding from the River Wye Getty Storm Dennis in pictures Laura Court and Louise Bedgood mop up the floor of Lougos hair dressers in Oxford Street, Nantgarw EPA Storm Dennis in pictures A Land Rover wades through flooded roads in the Wye Valley, near the hamlet of Wellesley in Hereford Getty Storm Dennis in pictures A rainbow appears over flooded fields in the Wye Valley Getty Storm Dennis in pictures A firefighter carries a dog to safety as part of ongoing rescue operations due to flooding in Nantgarw PA Storm Dennis in pictures Two men cleaning up the street in Pontypridd PA Storm Dennis in pictures Rescue operations continue after flooding in Nantgarw PA Storm Dennis in pictures Flood water surrounds Upton upon Severn PA Storm Dennis in pictures Members of the public start the clean up following flooding from storm Dennis in Newcastleton, Scotland Getty Images Storm Dennis in pictures Local residents remain cheerful as walk through receding floodwater in Mountain Ash, Wales PA Storm Dennis in pictures A car trapped by debris carried by floodwater, on the road outside the Aberdare Hotel in Mountain Ash, Wales PA Storm Dennis in pictures Flood water surrounds Upton upon Severn PA Storm Dennis in pictures Flood water surrounds abandoned cars left in a flooded street in Tenbury Wells, after the River Teme burst its banks in western England AFP via Getty Storm Dennis in pictures A man rescues a floating plant pot from flood water, outside of a flood-bound house in Tenbury Wells AFP via Getty Storm Dennis in pictures Items float in flood water inside a flooded charity shop in Tenbury Wells AFP via Getty Storm Dennis in pictures Flood damage in Bridge Street, Crickhowell, South Wales Reuters Storm Dennis in pictures A digger is used to clear debris, carried by floodwater, from the road outside the Aberdare Hotel PA Storm Dennis in pictures Flood water surrounds abandoned cars left in a flooded street in Tenbury Wells AFP via Getty Storm Dennis in pictures An Environmental Agency Officer gives a briefing as the River Ouse in York continues to rise potentially causing further flooding as Storm Dennis causes disruption across the country Getty Storm Dennis in pictures A man walks through a flooded convenience store in Tenbury Wells AFP via Getty Storm Dennis in pictures Flood water surrounds abandoned cars left in a flooded street in Tenbury Wells AFP via Getty Storm Dennis in pictures Employees of York City Council use sand bags to increase flood defences Getty Storm Dennis in pictures A van is driven through standing water on a road in Tenbury Wells AFP via Getty Storm Dennis in pictures A footbridge in Pontypridd is blocked by debris after Storm Dennis hit the UK PA Storm Dennis in pictures Waves crash over the lighthouse at Porthcawl, South Wales Reuters Storm Dennis in pictures Members of the 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland erect flood barricades in Ilkley, West Yorkshire AFP via Getty Storm Dennis in pictures Bricks and debris cover damaged cars after part of a building collapsed in Herne Bay AFP via Getty Images Storm Dennis in pictures An empty coach sits abandoned in flood water after the River Teme burst its banks near Lindridge AFP via Getty Images Storm Dennis in pictures Standing water on a road in Tenbury Wells AFP via Getty Storm Dennis in pictures A firefighter carries a dog to safety as part of ongoing rescue operations due to flooding in Nantgarw PA Storm Dennis in pictures A rescue boat is lifted from the water by Mountain Rescue crews after a river patrol on the River Ouse in York Getty Images Storm Dennis in pictures Flood water surrounds grave stones in a graveyard in Tenbury Wells AFP via Getty Images Storm Dennis in pictures One-year-old Blake is carried by a rescue worker as emergency services continue to take families to safety PA Storm Dennis in pictures A dog and its owner are rescued by emergency services after flooding in Nantgarw PA Storm Dennis in pictures A car passes over Teston Bridge near Maidstone in Kent PA Storm Dennis in pictures An aerial view of the Welsh village of Crickhowell which has been cut off Getty Images

“This kind of last-minute cancellation is particularly difficult for young people without the financial resources to travel across the country whenever we choose,” Sophia said.

“We are now living in an age of climate storms - where the most extreme weather of the last century is becoming the norm in this one,” she added.

“This is an emergency that’s now being felt across the world - from Staffordshire to Sri Lanka.”

Earlier today, Dr Michael Byrne, a lecturer in climate science at the University of St Andrews and research fellow at the University of Oxford, warned that more water in the atmosphere is “an entirely inevitable consequence of climate change."

“When you warm the planet, the atmosphere holds more water. In many parts of the world, including the UK, rising temperatures go hand in hand with more rain,” he said in the wake of two major storms (Dennis and Ciara) in recent weeks.

He said it was unclear whether climate change would strengthen or weaken high winds from major storms, but added that there would be more rain associated with such incidents.

“These storms are nothing new, going back 100 years, but, because we are now more than 1C warmer as a whole versus pre-industrial times, every degree means 7 per cent more water in the atmosphere and more rain in these heavy rain events,” Dr Byrne said.

“When they come, they bring more rain, 100 per cent for certain, because of climate change.”

John Curtin, the head of floods and coastal management at the EA, said on Monday that more than 400 properties had been flooded following the storm and added that the number of homes hit was “likely to rise”.

The EA has also warned torrential rain from the storm has swelled rivers to “exceptional” levels in parts of the UK, with more rain forecast to fall later this week.

South Wales, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire are among the worst affected areas from the extreme weather over the weekend.

One woman, who was swept away by floodwater in Worcestershire on Sunday, has been presumed dead by police as search efforts resumed on Monday.