Catastrophe risk modeller PERILS has said that the insurance industry losses from European Windstorms Arwen and Barra remain under €200 million for both events.
PERILS’ threshold for reporting on loss events is €200 million, so the fact the impact of these two storms will remain below this level means that the firm will not issue report loss numbers for the events.
The risk modeller’s view of the industry loss from these events is in line with other sources, with broker Aon saying recently that storm Arwen would only be an economic loss with insured losses in the tens of millions of pounds.
Storm Arwen, also known as Andreas, impacted parts of the UK, Ireland and the northern coast of France on November 26 – 27, bringing very strong winds to the north of England, Scotland, and Wales.
With Arwen, the strongest reported gust was 190km/h on the Cairnwell mountain in the Eastern Highlands of Scotland.
Windstorm Barra, also known as Harry, hit ten days later on the 7 – 8 December, bringing strong winds to Ireland with a lesser impact on the UK. Peak gusts hit 161km/h at the Fastnet Lighthouse on the southernmost tip of Ireland.
Luzi Hitz, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PERILS, commented: “Despite the strength of the winds, industry losses from extratropical cyclones Arwen and Barra remain below our capturing threshold of EUR 200 million. Had these storms struck continental Europe it is likely that the losses would have been considerably higher.
“The limited loss impact most likely reflects the fact that building structures and roofing in the UK and Ireland are less prone to wind damage compared to structures in the rest of Europe.
“PERILS has observed this on several occasions over the last 12 years of monitoring European windstorm activity. Given that the two countries are more frequently exposed to strong winds than other parts of Western Europe, it is plausible that building and roofing construction methods are more adapted to withstand such impacts.”
