Today's children are likely to witness dramatic changes in coastal flooding and erosion in their lifetimes, climate experts have warned.
In about 60 years, more than 1.5 million coastal properties in England could be at significant risk, the committee on climate change (CCC) said.
It said current policy is not fit for purpose and that the nation is in danger of losing hundreds of miles of roads and railway lines – as well as 92 train stations – to the sea.
Toxic landfill sites could also be swept into the North Sea, its report warned.
The committee argues that current strategy for protecting the English coastline is unrealistic and not urgent enough given that sea levels are expected to rise by up to a metre in one generation.
East Yorkshire has one of the fastest eroding coastlines in the world.
Over the past 20 years, Peter Garforth's garden looking onto the North Sea, has slipped into the sea at an average of almost 3m (10ft) a year.
He told Sky News: "When it's particularly stormy the waves hit my windows and it can be distressing."
But what worries him more than the harsh weather is what he feels is a complete lack of support from the authorities.
He said: "Nobody is helping us. Not local government. Not national government.
"When the property was built it had full planning permission. We were advised that we had as much as 70 years left."
Now the cliff edge is within feet of a point in his fence which marks the moment he will be legally forced to leave home.
Jane Evison is a councillor representing people in East Yorkshire affected by erosion. She argues that although the local authority does what it can, the initative has to come from central government.
She said: "I don't think they fully recognise the impact of erosion. It is something that they probably talk about but until you see it for yourself.
"The council accepts that nature must take its course, but if that is to be the case what we would like is financial support."
Baroness Brown, chairwoman of the CCC's adaptation committee, said: "This is a wake-up call to the fact we can't protect the whole English coast to today's standards.
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"Quite understandably most people living on the coast will assume that's exactly what will happen, that it will remain protected.
"We want to stimulate some honest conversation with coastal communities and affected places about the difficult choices which lie ahead."
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