Insurers today estimated the cost of clearing up the damage done by the weekend storms at tens of millions of pounds.

Insurers today estimated the cost of clearing up the damage done by the weekend storms at tens of millions of pounds.

The Association of British Insurers said the final bill was likely to be in the "low tens of millions" with the average repair bill costing about £20,000.

Insurers said they had seen an increase in the number of claims received over the weekend.

Norwich Union, one of the country's biggest providers of home contents insurance, said the claims were mostly from north-east England and South Wales.

Senior claims manager Jason Harris said: "So far we have had a slight increase in reported claims as a result of the weekend weather.

"The majority of claims were in the North East and South Wales.

"While this obviously meant an increase in call volumes to our call centres this was not nearly as significant as last summer's events.

"Our local claims teams were on stand-by throughout the weekend, closely monitoring the rainfall and they are currently working with the homeowners who were forced to leave their properties and who were affected by the adverse conditions.

"We continue to monitor the weather in view of the forecast for the next few days and our claims teams continue to be on stand-by."

The bill is likely to rise if storms predicted for later this week cause further flooding.

Flood victims were advised to report the damage as quickly as possible to speed up their claim.

But Mr Harris warned that it could take "several months" for homes to dry out to allow people to return.