Post by Willis Re

𝗕𝗮𝗯𝘆, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗱 (𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗺) 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 2026 has already delivered a winter of weather extremes across the United States. While the East and Midwest are shivering through some of their coldest temperatures in decades, the West is experiencing a winter wave of warmth. For insurers, the center of the freezing weather is Winter Storm Fern, which stretched from northern Mexico to southwestern Canada to inflict insured losses of up to $7 billion. Unlike predecessors Uri ($18bn) and Elliott ($8bn), Fern struck an insurance market reshaped by higher retentions. They have left most of the losses on the books of carriers, rather than attaching to reinsurers. Driven by a highly amplified jet stream and polar vortex disruption, this winter underscores a key challenge: in our warmer world, variability is increasing. Regional volatility may be on the rise, and storm clustering may be on the up, too. Insurers can expect fewer “average” winters ahead. They need to think carefully to reflect the increased winter volatility in decisions about attachment points, limits, and protection strategies. #ClimateRisk #Reinsurance #WeatherVolatility #RiskManagement #ExtremeWeather