Catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS has increased its third industry loss estimate for extratropical windstorm Éowyn (also referred to as Gilles) to €747mn, up from €696mn in April.
This figure surpasses earlier estimates of €619mn issued six weeks after the event and the April revision, released three months post-event.
The latest estimate covers property lines only and draws on data from impacted insurers. Loss data in this report also includes a breakdown by CRESTA zones, split between personal lines (51%) and commercial lines (49%).
PERILS noted that when used with its industry exposure database, which shares the same resolution, this loss footprint provides new insight into wind risk across insured property in the UK and Ireland.
Éowyn struck on January 24–25, 2025, bringing severe winds across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland’s Central Belt.
The storm set a record wind gust of 185 km/h at Mace Head in County Galway, with 173 km/h recorded on Cairnwell in the Eastern Highlands of Scotland.
At €747mn, Éowyn aligns with typical loss levels for European windstorms, which occur at this scale every one to two years. For Ireland, however, PERILS stated it marks the largest windstorm loss in over four decades. In the UK, it is the most significant since Storm Eunice in February 2022.
Luzi Hitz, Product Manager at PERILS, described Éowyn as a textbook European extratropical cyclone. The storm originated over the Gulf of Mexico, moved rapidly across the Atlantic via a strong jet stream, and underwent explosive cyclogenesis—striking the British Isles with hurricane-force gusts.
Windstorm Éowyn was a meteorological textbook example of a European extratropical cyclone. It initially formed over the Gulf of Mexico, was rapidly transported over the North Atlantic by a powerful jet stream and underwent explosive cyclogenesis (also known as a “bomb cyclone”) before striking the British Isles on 24 January 2025. At Mace Head in County Galway in Ireland, a record-breaking gust of 185km/h was measured, easily matching wind speeds usually associated with hurricanes and typhoons.
Luzi Hitz, Product Manager at PERILS
Hitz stated the rarity and intensity of the wind speeds, noting their value in refining catastrophe models.
“Éowyn offers an exceptional case to calibrate vulnerability functions for high gust conditions, supporting improved model accuracy,” he said.
PERILS will issue a fourth and final industry loss update on January 25, 2026—twelve months after the event’s conclusion.
