The senior rabbi of Masorti Judaism has revealed he was forced to spend a night in his electric car after struggling to find an available charging point, in his inaugural Thought for The Day broadcast on Radio 4.

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, of New North London Synagogue, urged listeners to take steps to adopt a greener lifestyle in Tuesday’s daily slot on the Today programme.

Comparing the climate crisis to the story of Noah’s Ark, he said: “Only Noah’s ark survives. The rabbis describe how Noah weeps when he opens the ship’s window and sees the muddy ruins of the once-beautiful world.

“Why didn’t you weep earlier, God chides him, before it was too late? That’s what the world’s children are saying to my generation.

Rabbi Wittenberg, who has switched to an electric car, spoke of the scarcity of charging points, saying recently he spent a “cold, semi-sleepless night” in his car, hours before he was due to run a marathon.