The fourth and final industry loss footprint for extratropical cyclone Dennis has been released by European catastrophe insurance data firm PERILS.
Based on data from affected insurers, PERILS estimated the property market loss at £304.17 million, compared to the previous loss estimate from August 2020, which was at £299 million.
The cyclone, also known as Victoria in other parts of Europe, affected the British Isles and north-western Europe from February 15-17, 2020, and came just six days after another extratropical cyclone Ciara (also known as Sabine/Elsa).
According to the firm’s loss report, the majority of insurance losses occurred in the UK, France, Belgium and Germany. Aside from wind damage, Dennis also brought heavy rainfall which aggravated the ongoing floods in the UK brought by cyclone Ciara a few days prior. PERILS said it will release an update of the flood industry loss on February 26.
Dennis was the 13th notable storm of a highly active 2019-2020 European windstorm season. According to PERILS, this is in contrast to the 2020-2021 season, which has been relatively inactive with only two notable events – windstorms Hermine in December 2020 and Goran in January 2021.
Based on historical data for the last 42 years, PERILS believes that Dennis’s industry loss can be expected to be reached or exceeded at least once a year on average. This, the firm said, highlights again the below-average nature of the current season, due to no European windstorm losses so far having reached this level.
