Summertime sadness: 2022 heatwave leaves insurers with £219bn subsidence bill March 21, 2023 Insurers are set to pay out £219m to Brits whose houses sunk into the ground due to the heatwave last year, new figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) show. The summer heatwave, which saw temperatures in the Lincolnshire town on Coningsby hit record highs of 40.3 degrees Celsius, led to a surge in [...]
Growers warn leek supply will be exhausted by April as Therese Coffey tells Brits to eat turnips February 24, 2023 Growers are warning of a leek shortage that will see British-grown supplies exhausted by April. High temperatures and a lack of rain, followed by a period of cold weather, are being blamed for creating the “most difficult season ever”. Supermarkets are already limiting the sale of tomatoes and other fruit and vegetables because of a [...]
December’s deep freeze: Cost of living crisis leaves Aviva with a £50m bill for burst pipes and water tanks January 25, 2023 Aviva said last December’s freezing weather meant it had to pay out £50m to policyholders claiming for damage caused by burst pipes and water tanks. An Aviva spokesperson told City A.M. said soaring energy costs had led to more frozen pipes because households were more reluctance to turn on the heating, leading to more extremes [...]
Energy bosses laughing all the way to the bank as Brits face record energy bills amid cold weather December 13, 2022 Millions of British households are expected to rake up record energy bills as have been warned their energy bills may skyrocket over the next few days as the cold weather continues to dominate the UK. It comes as the Met Office and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued a severe cold weather alert for England [...]
Snow chaos: Disruption across London continues with severe delays on tube lines December 12, 2022 Disruption across London’s transport network continued throughout the day following last night’s heavy snow. Services across the wider tube network were affected by severe delays, especially on the Central, Jubilee and Piccadilly lines. Minor delays were reported on the District, Hammersmith & City, Victoria and Northern lines as well as on the Overground between Euston [...]
Severe flooding could cost insurers more than £1bn this winter December 12, 2022 Severe flooding this winter could cost UK insurers more than £1bn, according to analysis from PwC. Storm Eunice in February led to insurers losing £200-300m, mainly as a result of disruption to travel and damage to properties and vehicles due to falling trees. However, floods on the same scale as those seen in 2015 [...]
Hotels cashed in on scorching summer but face gloomy winter freeze August 30, 2022 British hotels cashed in last month during a scorching heatwave, but the industry fears its profits will freeze up as the UK prepares for bleak economic times. Holiday destinations across the country had a record-breaking summer with a new survey showing more than 77 per cent occupancy in July compared to 73 in June. This [...]
Soaring inflation risks creating UK property ‘insurance gap’ August 25, 2022 SOARING inflation in the construction sector threatens to create a major “insurance gap” amongst UK policyholders, London headquartered insurer Chaucer has warned. Sharp increases in the costs of building materials could leave homes and businesses underinsured, as policies fail to cover the cost of repairing and rebuilding damaged properties, research carried out by the Lloyd’s of [...]
Warnings for road and rail as extreme weather continues and heatwave turns to storms August 15, 2022 The UK rail and road network is bracing itself for the impact of severe weather as the heatwave comes to an end and thunderstorms are expected. With Britain having experienced its driest July since 1935, the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning on the weekend as heavy rain is expected across large parts of [...]
Met Office says this month was driest July since 1911 with just 25 per cent of average rainfall July 27, 2022 England has experienced its driest July since 1911 with under 25 per cent of average rainfall occurring. The Met Office made an announcement on Wednesday that there had only been 15.8mm of rain on average across the country over this month. This represents 24 per cent of the usual rainfall in England, while across [...]