Homeowners in Dublin's seaside towns have been warned that they will struggle to secure property insurance due to the impact of climate change.

There will be "increased resistance" from insurance companies to cover coastal homes due to the higher risk of serious flooding in the coming years, the Sunday Times reports.

Clontarf, Malahide, Portmarnock, Howth and Swords are among the areas most vulnerable, according to the Office of Public Works (OPW).

Sandymount, Booterstown and Dun Laoighre are also at risk, while the OPW says Cork is the place most exposed to risks of catastrophic flooding outside of the capital.

'Uninsurable within 30 years'

Some properties might become "uninsurable" within the next 30 years, according to Barry O'Dwyre, an associate director in KPMG's sustainable futures department.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, he said that insurers were receiving increased claims relating to extreme weather.

Insurance Ireland has said that some companies have started to integrate climate-change risks into their risk assessments.

Cllr Jimmy Guerin is from Howth and he said that the issue is "a cause for genuine concern" as weather conditions become more extreme.

Strom Xaver, he said, caused millions worth of damage to the area in 2013.

'In our lifetime'

Donna Cooney, a Green Party councillor for Clontarf, said the effects of climate change cannot be ignored.

High tides, heavy rain and stormy weather have her constituency worried.

"We're talking about only decades away", she said.

"We're not talking about our children or our grandchildren, it's our own lifetimes."

"That's how imminent this is."