The costliest severe storm on record in Europe and historic heatwaves in North America top Aon’s June list of severe weather events, leaving the insurance industry facing hefty claim payouts.

Aon says total aggregated insurance impacts from the June 17-30 severe convective storm outbreaks constitute the costliest stretch of severe weather in European history and the fifth most expensive globally.

Preliminary estimates put the combined losses at $US4.5 billion ($6.01 billion), surpassing the previous European record of $US4.3 billion ($5.8 billion) set by storm Andreas in 2013.

Insurers in Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic recorded their costliest incidents of severe weather on record, while Germany experienced the second-costliest.

Aon says scorching temperatures in parts of the US and Canada in late June “rewrote the observational record books”.

While the report did not provide an estimate of insured losses from the US heatwaves, it says the hot spells resulted in hundreds of hospitalisations and notable heat stress impacts to transportation and agriculture.

The heatwaves in Canada led to out-of-control wildfires, record energy demands and agricultural issues.

In Australia, the powerful storm that hit parts of the eastern and southern states from June 9-11 has so far resulted in insurance payouts of at least $US137 million ($183 million).

Click here for the Global Catastrophe Recap report.