Spanish snowfall claims to reach €1.8 billion

A low-pressure system ‘Filomena,’ which caused severe snowfall in Spain during January, led to business interruption and property losses tentatively estimated at nearly €1.8 billion, according to Aon’s Impact Forecasting. 

Michal Lörinc, catastrophe analyst for the Impact Forecasting team, said: “While the European Windstorm season to-date has been relatively calm in comparison to peak loss years, winter Storm Filomena brought wintry conditions and cold temperatures not seen in Spain in two decades.

”Winter weather is not often a primary driver of annual financial losses, but the level of direct and indirect disruption due to extreme freeze or excessive snowfall can lead to notable commercial and supply chain challenges.”

In an active stretch of cyclonic weather, Windstorms Christoph and Hortense impacted parts of Western Europe on January 20-22 with strong winds and heavy rain. Significant flood-related losses from Christoph were registered in England and Wales.

Meanwhile in the United States, an atmospheric river and low-pressure system impacted the Pacific Northwest, Intermountain West and Northern Plains between January 11-14. Intense wind and rain resulted in total economic losses estimated at $525m, amid widespread power outages, flash flooding, landslides, downed trees and property damage. Slightly more than half of the losses were covered by insurance.

And Cyclone Eloise made an initial landfall in Madagascar on January 19 before rapidly intensifying and striking Mozambique the same day as a Category 2-equivalent storm, killing at least 25 people. Landfall occurred near the city of Beira, which is still recovering from cyclones Idai and Kenneth (2019), and tens of thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed in Mozambique, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and South Africa.