Experiencing High Wave Action on the North Sea (credit: Meteo Europe)

DISCUSSION: During the course of a given Winter season, there are often a collection of particularly strong low-pressure systems which impact many parts of western and/or northwestern Europe with strong winds as well as heavy rain and/or snow.  During such events, strong winds have the opportunity to travel over relatively large bodies of water such as (but certainly not limited to) the North Sea.  Thus, with these strong winds traveling over large expanses of open water, this helps to facilitate the generation of especially large waves and swells.  Such large wave action can often be a major threat to both smaller and larger ocean-going vessels.  In particular, this can be quite a costly economic problem when various shipping interests unsuccessfully attempt to complete the delivery of a given product aboard a given shipping vessel.  As shown in the footage above (courtesy of Scandinavian Nature), such large swells can make for quite a rough ride to say the least and reinforces the point that the power of water should always be treated with dignity and respect.

To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Europe, be sure to click here!

©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz