British PM David Cameron warns another global crash is looming

British Prime Minister David Cameron has issued a stark message that "red warning lights are flashing on the dashboard of the global economy" in the same way as when the financial crash brought the world to its knees six years ago.

Writing at the close of the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, Cameron says there is now "a dangerous backdrop of instability and uncertainty" that presents a real risk to the UK recovery, and that the euro zone slowdown is already affecting British exports and manufacturing.

His warning comes days after the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, claimed a spectre of stagnation was haunting Europe. The International Monetary Fund managing director, Christine Lagarde, expressed fears in Brisbane that a diet of high debt, low growth and unemployment may yet become "the new normal in Europe".

Cameron has adopted the more sombre tone in the run-up to his finance minister's autumn statement on December 3, when the Office of Budget Responsibility will produce new growth forecasts and spell out the impact on public finances.

"The euro zone is teetering on the brink of a possible third recession, with high unemployment, falling growth and the real risk of falling prices too," Cameron writes. "Emerging market economies which were the driver of growth in the early stages of the recovery are now slowing down. Despite the progress in Bali [trade talks in 2013], global trade talks have stalled while the epidemic of Ebola, conflict in the Middle East and Russia's illegal actions in Ukraine are all adding a dangerous backdrop of instability and uncertainty."

With Germany, Europe's manufacturing powerhouse, growing by just 0.1 per cent in the third quarter, the euro zone economy appears to be faltering.