Rural insurer NFU Mutual has said it is counting the cost of over 500 claims from policy holders, whose homes or businesses have been damaged by flooding since last week.

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Torrential rainfall following the wettest spring-summer period on record caused devastating floods in the South West, Wales, the Midlands and areas of the North. NFU Mutual said on Wednesday that the total cost of flood damage is likely to be in excess of £20 million for the mutual alone.

Matthew Scott, a spokesperson for the insurer said, "We have already received hundreds of weather-related claims from across the UK and expect more to come in over the next few days." He added that, although the insurers have made an estimate as to the eventual cost of the claims, "It's too early to put an accurate figure on the cost [of flooding]."

Mr Scott said that, whilst flooded farms account for a large amount of claims, other rural businesses, including shops, offices and hotels have all claimed for flood damage after a number of towns and villages suffered flooding when nearby rivers burst their banks. On Monday night and Tuesday morning (26th - 27thNovember), 500 houses were evacuated in the small Welsh city of St Asaph when the river Elwy burst its banks.

There have also been claims for cars, tractors and other farm machinery damaged by flooding, according to NFU Mutual. The insurer said farm buildings and stored crops have also been affected in the worst hit areas.

Although the number of flood warnings and alerts has died down since the beginning of the week, when more than 500 were in place, there are still over 300 active warnings and alerts, mostly in and around the Midlands.

Although drier weather is forecast for the rest of the week, there are concerns that temperatures will plummet below freezing in parts of the country, exacerbating the problems caused by flooding.   

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