The weather derivatives industry really came of age in 2006, with volumes hitting record levels. Contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) were up over 300% from 2005. With debate raging on climate change and extreme weather events causing immediate problems for many businesses, companies were keen to explore new ways of managing their weather risk.

However, despite the climate change debate raging on into 2007 and more extreme weather events being recorded, weather derivatives