Scenes like those of the past week in Yorkshire and along Ireland's east coast seem set to become more common, and only a few decades from now Europe could be facing $150bn per year in annual losses from flooding.

David Brady, head of Irish consulting practice at Marsh, a leading global risk and insurance services firm, said there is a growing emphasis on managing climate change risk in all areas of business and that smart organisations should make risk assessment and business continuity part of the strategic plans.

His warning came as forecasters predicted this could be Ireland's wettest summer on record and the outlook for July promises more weeks of heavy rain. Two weeks ago, Britain experienced serious floods, with Yorkshire hardest-hit.

Dr Martin Naughton, chairman of electric products company Glen Dimplex, revealed last week that as the company was launching a green energy centre at its Dunleer, Co Louth headquarters, the company's Morphy Richards plant in Yorkshire was under six feet of water . . . highlighting the exposure of industry to weather events.

The Association of British Insurers estimated claims from the floods would reach hundreds of millions of pounds. The Irish Insurance Federation said just four floods between 2000 and 2005 cost 176m in claims.

But apart from bad weather, Brady said legal and regulatory changes should be counted as risks as well, along with shareholder and stakeholder activism, which can foist unexpected cost burdens onto a business as demands to mitigate environmental risks mount.

Changes in risk management won't be limited to high insurance premiums either, warned Brady . . .there will be significant adjustments in exclusions and deductibles, as well, as insurers develop specific climate related products.

He predicted, however, that such changes would open opportunities for firms that quickly developed stronger loss control and risk management and perception policies, since their insurance costs would be lower than competitors and they would therefore be less vulnerable to unpredictable stakeholder action.