Insurers know all too well how much of an effect the weather can have on profits. This year alone has seen insurers incur claims of about £3bn from the UK floods, and €5bn from windstorm Kyrill, which tore through Europe in January.

According to Torsten Jeworrek, a member of reinsurer Munich Re's management board, this year has not seen an "extraordinary event" hit the insurance and reinsurance markets - such as Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005 which together generated claims of about $80bn. Instead, there have been a number of "frequency" events, such as Kyrill and the UK floods.