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Catastrophe risk modelling specialist Karen Clark & Company (KCC) has announced the launch of a new severe convective storm risk model which shows that average annual losses caused by this peril are nearing $20 billion, which is higher than both hurricanes and earthquakes combined.

Global severe convective storm activity in July resulted in another billion dollar plus bill for insurance and reinsurance capital to pay, as severe thunderstorm, tornado, hail, rainfall and wind caused by convective activity, resulted in over $1.3 billion of insured losses worldwide.

The insurance and reinsurance industry is already facing an $11 billion bill for U.S. severe convective storm losses suffered during the first-half of 2016, as tornadoes, hail and straight-line winds impacted the country, with Texas particularly hard hit.

Global natural disasters and severe weather events are expected to cost the insurance and reinsurance industry at least $7 billion in May, as the Fort McMurray wildfire, European and U.S. severe weather ramp up industry losses.

Insurance industry losses from recent floods in Germany will likely reach the EUR 1 billion ($1.14 billion) point, according to Fitch Ratings. The losses may weaken the underwriting profitability of the sector and, on top of losses in France and other European countries, are likely to hit some reinsurance layers.

German insurance industry association the GDV has said today that it expects insurers will face at least $510m (EUR450m) of losses due to storm Elvira’s impacts which struck the country from the 27th to 30th May.

According to the Insurance Council of Texas the insurance and reinsurance industry is set to pay for more than $2 billion of the losses caused by the severe hailstorms that struck around the San Antonio area of the state in April.

The trend of European and central European countries being hit by convective style severe weather, thunderstorms, rainfall and flooding continues in 2016, with Germany, France and the Czech Republic all suffering in recent days.

Meteorologists have long studied the unpredictability and devastation caused by tornado outbreaks in the U.S. in an effort to gain a greater understanding into the predictability, severity and potential location of events.

April 2016 saw the highest level of global natural catastrophe and severe weather losses for that month in five years, according to insurance and reinsurance broker Aon, with over $2 billion of insurance industry losses from the Japan earthquakes and $3 billion from a spate U.S. severe convective weather outbreaks.