Europe suffered 3 of world’s 10 costliest climate disasters in 2024

The ten most financially costly climate disasters of 2024 all had an impact of more than $4 billion (€3.8 billion), according to a new report.

The research by the charity Christian Aid found that Europe accounted for three of the top ten costliest disasters, with Storm Boris in central Europe and floods in Spain and Germany.

Most of the estimates are based only on insured losses, meaning the true financial costs are likely to be even higher, while the human costs are often uncounted, the organisation says.

The report also highlights ten extreme weather events that didn’t rack up big enough insured losses to make the top ten but were just as devastating and often affected millions of people.

These included several events in poorer countries where many people don’t have insurance and where data is less readily available.

“This report is a sobering reminder that climate change cannot be ignored and in fact will get much worse until we do something to stop it,” says Joanna Haigh, Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Imperial College London.

“Politicians who downplay the urgency of the climate crisis only serve to harm their own people and cause untold suffering around the world.”

World’s costliest climate disaster occurred in the US

The report found that the US bore the brunt of the costliest climate disasters in 2024, with October’s Hurricane Milton topping the list as the single biggest one-off event at $60 billion (€57.5 billion) in damage and 25 deaths.

Hurricane Helene, which struck the US, Cuba and Mexico in September, was next at $55 billion (€53 billion) and 232 deaths.

In fact, the US was hit by so many costly storms throughout the year that even when hurricanes were removed, the other convective storms cost more than $60 billion (€57.5 billion) in damages and killed 88 people.

No part of the world was spared from crippling climate disasters in 2024. Floods in China cost $15.6 billion (€15 billion) and killed 315 people.

Typhoon Yagi battered southwest Asia, killing more than 800 people. Yagi made landfall on September 2 in the Philippines before moving on to Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, where it triggered landslides and flash flooding and damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and agricultural land.

Europe suffered 3 of the world’s 10 costliest climate disasters

Europe accounted for three of the top ten costliest disasters, with Storm Boris in central Europe and floods in Spain and Germany costing a combined $13.87 billion (€13.5 billion). These events killed 258 people – 226 of which were in Valencia’s floods in October.

The UK didn’t make the list this year, but in December, the Environment Agency warned that a quarter of properties in England (some eight million) could be at risk of flooding by 2050 due to climate change.

Climate disasters cost poorer nations less but were just as devastating

While the top ten focuses on financial costs – which are usually higher in richer countries because they have higher property values and can afford insurance – some of the most devastating extreme weather events in 2024 hit poorer nations.

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Many of these are also countries which have contributed little to causing the climate crisis and have the least resources to respond.

These included Cyclone Chido, which devastated the islands of Mayotte in December and may have killed more than a thousand people.

A severe drought in Colombia saw parts of the Amazon River drop by 90 per cent, threatening the livelihoods of Indigenous peoples who rely on it for food and transport.

Heatwaves affected 33 million people in Bangladesh while also worsening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

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West Africa was hit with terrible floods that affected more than 6.6 million people in Nigeria, Chad and Niger. In southern Africa, the worst drought in living memory affected more than 14 million people in Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.

Christian Aid says these extreme events highlight the need for more urgent action to reduce carbon emissions and accelerate the transition to renewable energy. It also underlines the importance of providing funding for vulnerable people.

“The human suffering caused by the climate crisis reflects political choices,” says Christian Aid CEO, Patrick Watt.

“Disasters are being supercharged by decisions to keep burning fossil fuels and to allow emissions to rise. In 2025, we need to see governments leading and taking action to accelerate the green transition, reduce emissions, and fund their promises.”

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He adds that while the transition to a global economy powered by renewables is “inevitable”, the question is whether it will move fast enough to protect the poorest people.

“These terrible climate disasters are a warning sign of what is to come if we do not accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels,” he says.

“They also show the urgent need for adaptation measures, especially in the global South, where resources are especially stretched, and people are most vulnerable to extreme weather events.”