Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insured losses due to wind from Winter Storm Friederike will range between 1.3 billion and 2.6 billion euros, the majority of which are expected in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Lower levels of loss are also expected in Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, and Sweden.
AIR's estimates reflect wind damage only to onshore residential, commercial, and industrial properties; automobiles; agricultural properties; greenhouses in the Netherlands and Denmark; and forestry in Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
Related: When the lights go out: Preparing for a power outage caused by winter weather
The timeline
Friederike's extreme winds tore across Western Europe on Jan. 17 to 19, damaging buildings in the U.K., the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. There were reported instances of Friederike's winds blowing roofs off buildings.
The U.K. was first hit by gusts of up to 80 mph during the overnight hours of Jan. 17 to 19. The storm left as many as 140,000 homes without power and caused travel chaos as it brought down trees onto rail lines and roads, forced bridges to close, and disrupted flights and train and ferry services.
German meteorological services Deutscher Wetterdienst stated that Winter Storm Friederike was one of the strongest since Kyrill struck 11 years ago to the day; Kyrill, however, was considerably larger. The German insurance association GDV estimated insured losses of 500 million euros, while models from the insurance consultant Meyerthole Siems Kohlruss forecast losses of 800 million euros, Reuters reported.
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