At the event the technology giant's chief executive Lei Jun said the standard SU7 model would be priced at 215,900 yuan ($29,872; £23,663) and the Max version would cost 299,900 yuan. The firm says it got over 50,000 orders within the first 27 minutes of sales. Xiaomi's entry into the electric car market comes as sales growth has slowed globally, triggering a price war.

Mr Lei also said the SU7, which has drawn comparisons with Porsche's Taycan and Panamera models, would have a minimum range of 700km (435 miles), beating the Tesla Model 3's 567km. The firm is hoping that the SU7's shared operating system with its phones, laptops and other devices will appeal to existing customers. Xiaomi is the third-largest seller of smartphones worldwide with a market share of about 12%, according to research firm Counterpoint. The SU7, which Xiaomi has been teasing since last year, has drawn comparisons to Porsche's Taycan and Panamera sports car models. It will be made by a unit of state-owned car manufacturer BAIC Group at a plant in Beijing that can produce as many as 200,000 vehicles a year..

Xiaomi has said it will invest $10bn (£7.9bn) in its vehicles business over the next 10 years..

For those affected by flooding however, their immediate concerns are not necessarily about the manmade changes to the earth’s atmosphere. A YouGov poll from February found that while 84% of those surveyed believed Britain was likely to experience similar extreme weather events in the next few years, only 30% thought it was connected to man-made climate change.

There is no evidence to counter the basic premise that a warmer world will lead to more intense daily and hourly rain events. When heavy rain in 2000 devastated parts of Britain, a later study found the climate change had doubled the chances of the flood occurring, said Julia Slingo.

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