Floods, drought, hurricanes and fires cost the world nearly $100billion in 2018, as well as causing untold human damage, according to an analysis of the world’s most extreme weather of the year.

In a new report, charity Christian Aid has highlighted the 10 worst and most expensive weather events of the year – from the ongoing drought in Australia to Europe’s summer heatwaves to floods in India – and highlighted the link with climate change.

As well as costing billions of pounds the extreme weather also cost thousands of lives, with 500 people dying in floods in southern India alone.

Earlier this year a major report by medical journal the Lancet highlighted the impact of climate change: from heatwaves in the northern hemisphere to increasingly frequent dengue outbreaks in the tropics.

The Christian Aid report said four of the most extreme events cost more than $7billion. These included hurricanes Florence and Michael, which hit the US and parts of Central America and the Caribbean in September and October, causing damage initially estimated at $17 billion for Florence and $15 billion for Michael.

Japan's summer floods killed at least 230 people and cost $7 billion. They were followed by record-breaking heat and then Typhoon Jebi, the most powerful storm to hit the country for 25 years.