Storm Hercules wave height

During the recent Storm Eddie, satellites recorded ocean waves averaging nearly 20 metres high – the largest ever measured from space. Moreover, satellite data can now reveal that ocean swells act as storm ‘messengers’: even though a storm may never make landfall, its swell can travel vast distances and bring destructive energy to distant coastlines.

Models also now show that the tallest waves of the past 34 years occurred in January 2014, when Atlantic Storm Hercules produced 23-metre waves that caused severe damage from Morocco to Ireland.

Read full story: Satellites reveal the power of ocean swell