Widespread severe convective storms (SCS) across Europe between July 10–17, 2026, will likely result in substantial economic and insured losses, with aggregate financial losses expected to reach at least hundreds of millions of euros and the potential for the sequence to become a billion-euro industry event as damage assessments continue, according to Aon’s recent Weekly Cat Report.
In the report, Aon explained that the damage was primarily driven by hail, with additional impacts from strong winds and localised flash flooding, with most losses concentrated in France and Germany.
The report emphasises that, beyond property damage, agriculture is expected to contribute the most to the financial losses.
In Germany alone, Vereinigte Hagel, an agricultural insurer, reported that around 100,000 hectares (247,100 acres) of agricultural land was damaged, with expected losses of at least EUR €50 million.
However, it should be noted that the damage assessments are still ongoing, and loss estimates are likely to evolve as additional claims information becomes available.
According to the event details, between July 10-17, a strong ridge of high pressure dominated northwestern Europe between the British Isles and Scandinavia, trapping a moist, hot air mass over Western and Central Europe.
This resulted in a series of strong thunderstorms developing across parts of Western and Central Europe in a complex of troughs and convergence zones. As previously highlighted, material losses were mostly driven by large hail.
Additionally, Aon explained that although some localised severe storms developed during the July 10-11 period, causing damage across several departments in France and Northern Italy, the bulk of the damage occurred during the thunderstorm sequences of July 13-17 across Western and Central Europe.
Hannover, Germany, faced the costliest episode on July 13, and July 14 brought more distributed impacts across southern regions (Nuremberg, Augsburg, Ansbach), Bas-Rhin department in France and northern Italy, as the storm activity further expanded.
Meanwhile, on July 15, during damaging storms, the majority of hail damage occurred in French departments of Côte-d’Or, Ardeche, Gironde, and Charente-Maritime.
Intense thunderstorms with large hail again impacted France, Switzerland and southern Germany on July 16. The renewed activity brought additional economic and insured impact in Central Switzerland, parts of Germany (Ulm, Tübingen, Freiburg), and France (Loire, Charente-Maritime, Haut-Rhin, Moselle).
Additional storm activity was forecast to continue, with much of the focus in the Alpine region on July 17, explained Aon.
