Home owners are being warned that storm conditions that struck the UK yesterday could become more commonplace, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
The group predicts that many more of us could be making claims on our
home insurance in coming years as the impact of climate change takes hold.
Rising sea levels could leave increasing numbers of homes liable to coastal floods and it is thought that more than half a million homes in Britain are now in danger, an increase of more than 100 per cent since 2001.
Jane Milne, head of property insurance at the ABI, said: "Action is needed now to protect customers from our increasingly erratic weather.
"Today's storms back up our call for more investment in our flood defences. We need to look at more innovative building design, so that homes and businesses are more resistant to floods and high winds."
She added that insurers have paid out an average of £600 million to policy holders in the past three years as a result of storm damage.