The extratropical windstorm “Éowyn”, also known as “Gilles”, that struck the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Central Belt of Scotland between January 24th – 25th, is estimated to have cost the insurance and reinsurance industry EUR 619 million, according to an initial industry loss estimate from PERILS, the Zurich-based catastrophe insurance data provider.As noted by PERILS, windstorm Éowyn was a very intense European extratropical cyclone, which produced record-breaking wind gusts of 185 km/h recorded in the Republic of Ireland.Éowyn primarily affected the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Central Belt of Scotland.“Its impact on lifeline infrastructure was considerable with power disruption to around 1.8 million premises and transport coming to a virtual standstill.

Thousands of trees were uprooted, trucks were blown over, and entire roofs were ripped off by the high winds.Two people lost their lives in storm-related incidents,” PERILS explained.PERILS’ estimated EUR 619 million insurance market loss from the event is based on loss data collected from affected insurers.

In line with the PERILS coverage definition for Europe, this estimate covers the property line of business.For the Republic of Ireland, Éowyn marks the biggest windstorm loss that the country has seen in at least 45 years, while for the UK, it marks the biggest windstorm loss since February 2022.In addition, PERILS has confirmed that an updated estimate of the market loss from Éowyn will be made available on April 25th, 2025, three months after the event end date.

Luzi Hitz, Product Manager at PERILS, commented: “Two aspects of Éowyn’s impact are particularly striking.Firstly, despite its ferocity, the storm only caused two storm-related fatalities.This is likely thanks to the accurate and timely warnings issued by Met Éireann and the UK Met Office, respectively, and the fact that people acted in accordance with these warnings.

“Secondly, Éowyn’s impact on the insurance industry remained comparably moderate, despite the size of the area impacted by the high winds.This is likely due to construction and roofing practices in the Republic of Ireland and the northern United Kingdom, both areas accustomed to frequent strong winds and as a result designed to withstand windstorm impacts of this level.”.All of our Artemis Live insurance-linked securities (ILS), catastrophe bonds and reinsurance can be accessed online.

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