Arwen, Barra, Malik, Corrie, Dudley, Eunice, Franklin. The storms that have hit the UK since late November 2021 have caused huge disruption. We are just two months into 2022, and before the end of the year we may have to endure one or more storms Gladys, Herman, Imani and Jack, the next few names on the Met Office list.
This season is by no means unique. In the winter of 2019-2020, storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge cost the insurance and reinsurance industries nearly £800m, largely as a result of disastrous flooding. During the past decade, winter storms and floods, as well as heat and drought, seem to have become the new normal. Back in 2012, for instance, there was a winter drought, followed by the wettest early June for 150 years and widespread flooding and wind damage in the autumn.
