Catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS has released its fourth and final industry loss estimate for storm Victoria, also known as storm Dennis, settling on a figure of €350 million.
This represents a slight upward revision on the previous €344 million estimate that PERILS released back in August 2020.
Storm Victoria affected the British Isles and north-western Europe from 15 to 17 February 2020 and occurred only six days after extratropical cyclone Sabine (Ciara, Elsa).
According to PERILS, the majority of insurance losses occurred in the UK, France, Belgium and Germany.
In addition to damage caused by strong winds, Victoria also brought heavy rainfall which aggravated the ongoing floods in the UK triggered by heavy precipitation brought by the Sabine (Ciara) low pressure system a week earlier.
Victoria was the thirteenth notable storm of a very active 2019–20 European windstorm season, which contrasts with the comparatively quiet start to the 2020-21 season, which so far has only seen windstorms Hermine in December 2020 and Goran in January 2021.
Despite occurring only a few days later, losses from Victoria were approximately five times lower than the final estimate for Sabine, due to the smaller area that was impacted by the second storm.
Based on the last 42 years of European Windstorm loss history, PERILS says that Victoria’s industry loss can be expected to be reached or exceeded at least once a year on average.
