Weatherwatch: insurers braced for subsidence claims after heatwave

Older housing stock built on clay is particularly vulnerable to movement when the rain returnsEarly predictions of the effects of climate change in Britain suggested that severe droughts would cause houses built on clay soils to subside and walls to crack, especially those that were built before the 1960s without proper foundations. With fissures in clay soils in the south of Britain currently large enough to swallow tennis balls, insurance companies will be braced for a host of expensive claims