2022 Extreme Weather Events in Europe

The climate change impact on European insurers

By Tarik Aouragh, Niccolò Basetti Sani Vettori, Mohamed Benkhalfa, Christoph Krischanitz, Ian Penfold, Eugenio Portales, Antoine Rainaud, Giuseppe Semeraro, Anandi Shah, José Silveiro, Martijn van Rooijen, and Menno van Wijk

In 2022, extreme weather across Europe once again made headlines: Vast wildfire damage. The worst drought in 500 years. The hottest summer ever recorded.

Europe is warming faster than the rest of the world, with severe economic consequences.

Our annual report highlights the specific toll on the insurance industry, which faced a record number of claims and higher repair costs amid rising inflation—all coming as the continent was just emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and grappling with an energy crisis and the war in Ukraine.

Click the tabs below to see the 2022 weather events with the most widespread impact: drought, heat waves, winter storms, and wildfires.

The drought: 2022’s most expensive European weather event

Europe’s record-breaking drought has been called the worst in 500 years.

Dry conditions caused insured losses of EUR 19 billion, but the costs went beyond ravaged crops.

Click through the graphics below to see the drought's potential secondary and tertiary effects.