UK’s wettest winter could become the norm
The recent wet weather, which is the worst on record for 250 years according to the Met Office, could become a regular occurrence due to climate change, according to insurer Allianz.
Clement Booth, Allianz SE member of the Board of Management, told delegates at yesterday’s Economist Insurance Summit 2014, that if current weather patterns continue, especially the unprecedented combination of rain, wind and tidal surges, longer term and widespread risks are expected to affect global insurers.
The recent extreme weather in both the UK and the US are connected and both are likely to be more frequent in the future due to climate change, according to the insurer.
“This winter we have seen extreme weather patterns where the UK floods have been coupled with ice storms across Midwestern US and Canada. Temperatures in the US plummeted to levels that were colder than the North and South poles – Chicago recorded -27C in January. The resulting power outages reduced the economic output in the US by $3 billion in just one week,” said Booth.
“We are now seeing a strong link between the melting of the Arctic ice caps and the destabilisation of the jet stream. The Arctic is warming at a pace faster than anticipated by climate scientists. The slowing of the polar jet stream is making it swing further north and south, and these fluctuations will impact future weather patterns.”
New York, which also experienced a series of snow storms and temperatures well below freezing last month, could be in line for another storm next week with snow potentially falling at the rate of one inch per hour.
