The UK Commercial Roof Storm Report, 2025/26 Season
Most facilities managers assume that if a storm strips flashing or punches a hole in a flat roof, the insurer pays out. The data says otherwise. UK insurers paid a record £6.1 billion in property claims in 2025, but a growing share of storm and water-ingress claims are being challenged or reduced. Not because the damage isn’t real. Because the policyholder can’t produce evidence the roof was maintained.
This report pulls together the 2025/26 UK storm season, the latest insurer claims data, and the Health and Safety Executive’s workplace injury figures into one place, to answer the question FMs actually need answered: is your estate’s paperwork as storm-ready as its roof?
The headline numbers
Seven figures explain why insurers are getting stricter about storm claims:
The maintenance catch
Here’s the part most policy documents bury: a storm exceeding the wind threshold doesn’t guarantee a payout. Most UK commercial property policies include a “good state of repair” condition, and when a claim involves storm damage or water ingress, insurers routinely ask for evidence the roof was actually maintained (survey reports, inspection records, proof of remedial work) before they’ll settle.
Where that evidence exists, claims move fast. One documented commercial case, a hotel roof damaged in a storm, settled for £34,000 within three weeks because the operator could produce a recent survey and a maintenance log. Where it doesn’t exist, the same claim can be delayed, reduced, or declined outright, regardless of how much wind actually hit the building.
For an FM, that reframes “roof maintenance” from a line item into evidence. A biannual inspection isn’t just about catching problems early. It’s the paperwork that determines whether a six-figure storm claim gets paid.
The 2025/26 storm season, storm by storm
Seven storms. Four nations. One broke a 47-year wind record. The Met Office named seven storms in the 2025/26 season, and between them they put wind, rain and snow into every part of the UK.
| Storm | Date | Peak gust | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amy | 3–4 Oct 2025 | 92mph+ | North-west UK |
| Benjamin | 22–23 Oct 2025 | n/a | England, Wales |
| Claudia | 14 Nov 2025 | n/a | England, Wales (South Wales worst-hit) |
| Bram | 8–10 Dec 2025 | 69mph | UK-wide |
| Goretti | 8–9 Jan 2026 | 99mph | Cornwall, Isles of Scilly, Wales, West Midlands, South Pennines |
| Chandra | 26–27 Jan 2026 | n/a | South-west England, north-east Scotland, east Northern Ireland |
| Dave | 4–5 Apr 2026 | 93mph | Wales, western and northern UK |
Two entries are worth flagging on their own. Storm Goretti produced the highest wind gust recorded at St Mary’s Airport in the Isles of Scilly in 47 years. Storm Dave, in April, was the most severe windstorm to hit the UK in that month since storm naming began in 2015. Storm season, in other words, no longer reliably ends in spring.
Compiled from Met Office storm summaries and press releases for the 2025/26 season.
Where the risk concentrated
No insurer publishes storm claims by UK region. This table is the closest thing to it. Counting which nations appeared in each storm’s named impact area (Met Office storm summaries) gives a genuine, if rough, picture of where exposure sat this season:
| Nation | Storms naming it | Share of season |
|---|---|---|
| England | 5 of 7 | 71% |
| Wales | 5 of 7 | 71% |
| Scotland | 2 of 7 | 29% |
| Northern Ireland | 2 of 7 | 29% |
England and Wales were named in the impact area of five of the season’s seven storms, including Bram, which crossed the whole UK. Scotland and Northern Ireland were named explicitly in just one storm each (Chandra), outside of Bram’s UK-wide track. This matches the Met Office’s general observation that the north and west of the UK typically see the most severe wind, rain and snow.
It’s still worth being precise about what this table does and doesn’t show. It counts named impact areas per storm, not claims volume, property counts, or the £-value of damage by region. Nobody publishes that breakdown at nation or regional level, which is exactly why the Limitations note below matters as much as the numbers above.
Who’s on the roof after the storm matters
Falls from height remain the single most common cause of workplace death in the UK in almost every year on record. In 2024/25, RIDDOR recorded 4,684 non-fatal falls from height (down 7% on the year before) and an estimated 416,000 working days lost to them. Provisional 2025/26 figures put fatal falls from height at 31. The Labour Force Survey, which captures injuries employers don’t formally report, estimates the true non-fatal figure at up to 44,000 a year, nearly ten times the official RIDDOR count.
None of that is abstract after a storm. A damaged roof is exactly the scenario where someone under pressure to “just go take a look” is most likely to improvise: an unrated ladder, no edge protection, no plan. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 hierarchy (avoid, prevent a fall, minimise the distance and consequences of a fall) exists precisely for this moment, and the FM’s duty of care under it doesn’t pause because the damage happened overnight.
Methodology
None of this is guesswork, but it isn’t a complete picture either. This report combines three public datasets, compiled between September and April of the 2025/26 storm season:
- Storm log: every named storm of the UK’s 2025/26 season, compiled from Met Office storm summaries and press releases, recording date, peak recorded gust (where published) and the nations/regions named in the Met Office’s own impact description.
- Insurance claims: quarterly and annual UK property claims data published by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), covering weather-related, storm, flood and subsidence claims across domestic and commercial policies.
- Workplace injury data: RIDDOR statistics and Labour Force Survey estimates published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), specifically falls-from-height figures for 2023/24 through 2025/26 (provisional).
Limitations, stated plainly
- The regional exposure table counts how many named storms listed a nation in their impact area, not the number, cost or severity of claims in that nation. No UK insurer or trade body currently publishes storm claims by region or nation.
- ABI’s published business/commercial weather claims figures are quarterly (£102m in Q4 2024, £109m in Q1 2025, part of a £322m Q2 2025 storm/rainfall/frozen-pipe total), and no single full-year commercial-only total is published, so this report cites the quarters available rather than estimating an annual figure.
- Peak gust figures are only published for some named storms; where the Met Office hasn’t released a figure, this report records it as not specified rather than estimating one.
- “50mph” is described industry-wide as the typical insurer threshold for storm claims, but the exact figure is set policy-by-policy and can vary by insurer.
Sources
- Association of British Insurers, Adverse weather pushes property insurance payouts to £6.1 billion in 2025 (Feb 2026) and Q1/Q2 2025 property claims data releases
- Met Office, From Amy to Dave: looking back at the 2025/26 storm season (2026), and individual named-storm press releases
- Health and Safety Executive, Non-fatal injuries at work in Great Britain and RIDDOR falls-from-height statistics, 2024/25 and provisional 2025/26
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a storm automatically mean my insurer will pay for roof repairs?
No. Most UK commercial policies require the wind to exceed a stated threshold (commonly around 50mph) and require the building to have been kept in a reasonable state of repair. Insurers can and do ask for maintenance records before settling a claim.
What evidence actually helps a storm damage claim?
A recent roof survey report, a record of completed maintenance and repairs, and photographic documentation from before and after the storm. Post-storm inspection reports specifically, carried out promptly, also strengthen a claim.
How often should a commercial roof be inspected to stay claim-ready?
Twice a year (spring and autumn) is the general industry recommendation, with an additional inspection after any named storm or severe weather event that affects your site.
Is the north and west of the UK really more exposed to storms?
Directionally, yes. The Met Office consistently notes that northern and western areas see the most severe wind, rain and snow, and this season’s storm log bears that out for Wales in particular. But no public dataset currently breaks storm claims down by UK region, so treat this as exposure, not guaranteed cost.
Who should assess a roof after storm damage?
A trained, insured contractor with the right access equipment, not site staff working from an unrated ladder. Falls from height remain the leading cause of workplace death in the UK, and the same storm that damaged the roof has often also damaged the safe means of getting to it.