Weather forecasts are notoriously bad at predicting the chances of impending rain – as anyone who has been drenched after leaving the house without an umbrella can testify. Now, scientists at Google DeepMind have developed an artificial intelligence-based forecasting system which they claim can more accurately predict the likelihood of rain within the next two hours than existing systems. Today's weather forecasts are largely driven by powerful numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems, which use equations that describe the movement of fluids in the atmosphere to predict the likelihood of rain and other types of weather. "These models are really amazing from six hours up to about two weeks in terms of weather prediction, but there is area – especially around zero to two hours – in which the models perform particularly poorly," said Suman Ravuri, a staff research scientist at DeepMind in London and co-lead of the project. "Precipitation nowcasting" is an attempt to fill this blind spot.

Broker says smartphone app will help customers find "better options" for cover using AI. InsurTech start-up Brolly has launched gadget and motor insurance in its smartphone app. In addition, the broker said its switching feature, which analyses what a customer is buying and searches for a better option based on information shared about their lifestyle, is live for gadget insurance. CEO and co-founder Phoebe Hugh confirmed that this will be rolled out on other product lines, including motor, home and travel in the coming months. The start-up broker claimed that Brolly's is the first insurance app where it's possible to switch and purchase insurance directly in-app.

"The FCA found that a loyal customer pays 75% more than a new customer after five years – how is that fair?" Those were the words of Phoebe Hugh, chief executive and co-founder of insurance app Brolly, when the insurtech released the findings of its new research on overpayment. Blaming what it called the "renewal trap," Brolly said 64% of British policyholders are paying more than they should for insurance. According to the start-up, which uses artificial intelligence to analyse existing cover and offer better options, consumers in the UK are overpaying by at least £9 billion annually by not switching providers when it's time to renew. Launched last November, Brolly alerts users when a renewal is due and provides analysis of whether a policyholder is underinsured or overpaying.

Brolly's vision is to re-design the insurance user experience based on data analytics and a centralised approach to the UI/UX of insurance policies Brolly is the UK's first artificially intelligent insurance advisory application that delivers contextually relevant insights through web and mobile apps which enables customers to make informed decisions about their insurance. With Brolly, customers can better understand whether they're over insured or under insured and where they can get a better price for the cover they need. Brolly users only need to enter their information once, and purchasing new cover will be achieved with one simple tap. Brolly will also help you manage all your insurance policies in one place, and provide instant access to your documents, prices, and contact numbers, so they're always at hand when you need them. Brolly has started with a clean slate and is developing an insurance company for the digital age.

With insurance, you never get a reward, there's just a cost," says Filiippo Sanesi, head of research and partner management at Startupbootcamp InsurTech, an accelerator for insurance startups based in London. The billions of images around the world mean that not only is the value from performing this task with AI enormous, but it's also possible to train the AI because you've got these mountains of data," Tractable's co-founder and chief executive Alex Dalyac, tells Verdict. "We're not just distributing products; we're working towards building accurate, personalised insurance products around people's lives." "We're not just distributing products; we're working towards building accurate, personalised insurance products around people's lives," says Hugh.

Brolly may have only graduated from incubator Entrepreneur First in September, but this startup already has ambitious plans to give customers a single place to view, manage and buy insurance from their mobile. To really shake up an industry rife with inertia and outdated products Phoebe Hugh, cofounder and CEO at Brolly, aims to go back to the days where your insurance broker knew what you needed and helped you to manage an insurance portfolio, before the days of price comparison sites and online portals. Instead of connecting you with a human broker though, Brolly uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Hugh, a psychology graduate from the University of Manchester, left her job at insurance giant Aviva in March 2015 and enrolled in the prestigious Entrepreneur First programme, joining the sixth cohort a year later in March 2016. She had become jaded by an industry that only ever seemed to "unlock a whole host of frustrations" in customers, and which had not yet produced a successful new consumer brand or startup focusing on doing things differently.