PERILS places initial industry loss estimate for windstorm Éowyn at €619m

Zurich-domiciled catastrophe insurance data provider, PERILS, has placed its initial industry loss estimate for extratropical windstorm “Éowyn”, also known as “Gilles” at €619 million, based on loss data collected from the affected insurers.

The storm, which generated very strong winds affecting the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Central Belt of Scotland, occurred on January 24-25th, 2025.

For the Republic of Ireland, Éowyn marks the biggest windstorm loss for at least 45 years, whereas for the UK it is the biggest since February 2022, reports PERILS.

Windstorm Éowyn was a very intense European extratropical cyclone with record-breaking wind gusts of 185 km/h recorded in the Republic of Ireland.

The storm caused power disruption to around 1.8 million premises and transport came to a virtual standstill. High winds also caused a considerable amount of damage, with two people losing their lives in storm-related incidents.

This estimate from PERILS covers the property line of business, in line with PERILS’ coverage definition for Europe.

PERILS will release an updated estimate of the market loss from the storm three months after the event date on April 25th, 2025.

PERILS explained, “Éowyn’s impact on the insurance industry was not unusual from a European perspective, with windstorm event losses of Éowyn’s size occurring approximately once every year. For the Republic of Ireland, Storm Éowyn was an exceptional event as it generated the largest windstorm loss for at least 45 years.”

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.”

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