Abstract Climate change poses a serious threat to arid and low elevation coastal zones. Kafrelsheikh governorate, as a large agricultural and coastal region on the Egyptian North Nile Delta, is one of the most vulnerable areas to higher temperature and global sea level rise. Two DSSAT wheat models (CERES and N-Wheat) were calibrated using a local cultivar (Misr3) grown under irrigated conditions in Egypt. Experimental data of two successive growing seasons during 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 were used for calibration using different treatments of irrigation, planting dates and fertilization. Both models simulated the phenology and wheat yield well, with root mean square deviation of <10%, and d-index > 0.80. Climate change sensitivity analysis showed that rising temperature by 1 °C to 4 °C decreased wheat yield by 17.6%. However, elevated atmospheric CO 2 concentrations increased yield and could overtake some of the negative temperature responses. Sea level rise by 2.0 m will reduce the extent of agricultural land on the North Nile Delta of Egypt by ~60% creating an additional challenge to wheat production in this region. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Integrated impacts of T and CO 2 on wheat yield received little attention in Egypt. • DSSAT models showed a robust calibration with a recent high yielding wheat cultivar. • A SLR by 2.0 m decreased the agricultural land and wheat production significantly. • Higher levels of CO 2 alleviated impacts of temperature on wheat yield. • Misr3 is a high yielding cultivar responding to elevated T with higher CO 2 levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]