Economic impact of Storms Eva, Desmond and Frank could hit £3bn
The UK economy could be dented by as much as £3bn by damage from Storms Eva, Desmond and Frank.
PwC said economic losses from the storms Desmond and Eva will be between £1.6bn and £2.3bn, while insured losses will hit £900m-£1.2bn.
"Based on the currently available information, our understanding is that Desmond and Eva combined had at least 11,500 houses flooded," said Mohammad Khan, general insurance leader at PwC.
"Given that Storm Frank is ongoing it is far too early to tell what the full impact will be. However, given 16,500 homes and businesses have already been left without power by Storm Frank in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the North of Scotland, the total economic loss caused by the three Storms may well breach £3bn.”
The news comes a day after an expert estimated the weather could shave as much as 0.25 percentage points off GDP growth.
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS, suggested the impact would be felt in both the final quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016.
“It is also true that the storms this time have generated a far greater proportion of non-insured losses compared to the total economic damage," added Khan.
"Traditionally insurance claims in the UK have covered many of the losses so non-insured losses have made up between 15 per cent and 35 per cent of the UK economic losses caused by storm and flood damage."