Insurance companies are braced for claims of up to £500m for damage to property in the wake of the worst storms to hit Britain in a decade.

Winds, gusting up to 100mph, combined with flooding to cause widespread structural damage to homes and commercial premises across the UK over the weekend.

The cost of most of the damage will be borne by the insurance industry, with loss assessors acting for policyholders predicting that claims could total up to half a billion pounds.

Royal & Sun Alliance, the country's biggest household insurer, said it had received thousands of telephone calls reporting structural damage, but it was too early to put a value on the cost.

Guardian Royal Exchange said it was handling five times the normal volume of calls.

Global warming has been blamed for an increase in the severity and frequency of stroms hitting Britain. Insurance claims for weather-related damage have quadrupled in the last 30 years, research has shown.

Mark Boleat, director general of the Association of British Insurers, said: "There is an assumption throughout the industry that we are going to have more variable weather and storms.

"Insurers have to take that into account in their pricing by making forecasts and setting premiums accordingly.

"There will be a large number of claims in the next few days as many people have suffered great damage."

However, the latest storms will not cost the industry as much as the Great Storm of October 1987, when insurance companies paid out almost £1bn in claims.

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