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The Solent is an estuarine complex lying on the South coast of the UK, comprising of 12 estuaries and harbours found along the southern Hampshire and Isle of Wight Coastlines. It was once a valley though which the Solent river flowed west to east and was progressively inundated by the sea between 15,000 and 5,000 years before present. Sea level continues to be a major factor in the evolution of the Solent and its continued rise will determine the future shape and nature of the coastline.
Climate change may also impact the physical environment of the Solent. For the south east of England the trend is towards hotter, drier summers and warmer, wetter, winters, with increased storminess. This will have an effect on the natural environment including increase in some plant or bird species and decline in others, leading in turn to adjustments in behaviour of fauna, including migrations.
There may also be a significant effect on the coast due to storminess and associated wave and surge actions, with rivers also seeking to discharge higher flows into the sea. This may in turn, affect flooding on the low coast and in river estuaries, as well as erosion of coastal and inter-tidal features such as shingle banks and mudflats.