Damage caused by natural disasters

According to the CRED, the total reported economic losses in the United Kingdom caused by weather- and climate-related extremes over the period 2000 through 2020 amounted to circa US$33.5 billion (£23.7 billion), as a result average economic losses caused by weather- and climate-related extremes in the United Kingdom per annum were US$1.6 billion (£1.1 billion) between 2000 and 2020 inclusive. The CRED also reported that there were 3,750 fatalities caused by weather- and climate-related extremes in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2020 inclusive. The most common weather- and climate-related extremes that affect the United Kingdom are storms, flooding, extreme temperatures, droughts, and to a far lesser extent, earthquakes, wildfires and land movement.

Since the turn of the millennium, there have been a number of natural disasters affecting the United Kingdom which, as per the NatCatSERVICE of Munich RE, fall within top five "costliest relevant natural loss events in Europe" in various years. For instance, in October and November 2000, a successive series of extratropical cyclones caused severe flooding in the United Kingdom - according to Munich RE, overall losses amounted to circa US$2 billion (£1.2 billion). Meanwhile, severe storms and flooding swept across many parts of the United Kingdom in the summer of 2007, causing more than US$ 8 billion (£3.9 billion) in damages. Colloquially labelled by the British media as "The Big Freeze of 2010", the winter of 2009 through early-2010 saw a meteorological event result in many snow showers, fronts and polar lows across the United Kingdom, bringing storm-like weather extremes with it - the NatCatSERVICE of Munich estimated total losses caused by ""The Big Freeze of 2010" to be in the region of US$3 billion (£1.9 billion). In the following winter, heavy snowfall and then record-low temperatures in November through December 2010 resulted in some US$3.2 billion (£2 billion) worth of damage.

In 2016 and through most of 2017, climate- and weather-related damage was somewhat limited, with the severity of adverse weather conditions and natural disasters falling. However, high impact extratropical cyclones present towards the tail end of 2017 and through the start of 2018, resulted in damages just shy of £1 billion. Later in 2018, and compounding losses incurred, the United Kingdom was exposed to a period of unusually hot weather which resulted in a heat wave, widespread droughts, destructive wildfires and crop failures. Towards the tail-end of 2019 and extending through the early stages of 2020, heavy rainfall and storms - namely Storms Ciara and Dennis - led to flooding in various parts of the United Kingdom, bringing substantial damage to local properties and infrastructure. According to a House of Commons briefing paper published on 10 March 2020, which reiterates that the government currently has a six-year capital investment programme worth £2.6 billion in flood and coastal erosion risk management running from 2015 to 2021. In 2019-20, Flood Re, the governments public flood insurance pool scheme, paid out £161 million of insurance claims up from just £16 million the year earlier. Storm Christoph hit parts of the United Kingdom in early 2021; however, flooding was less severe than in 2020, with Flood Re only paying out £8m in 2020-21.