Climate change impacts on storms and waves relevant to the UK and Ireland

Storm-force winds and wind-driven sea waves can cause much damage in UK coastal waters, particularly in autumn and winter. Understanding the characteristics and variability of wave climate, and historical and projected future change, is an important consideration for sustainable development of coastal and offshore infrastructure, and management of coastal resources and ecosystems. Waves contribute directly to coastal flooding, and wave conditions are critical to safe operations in shipping and offshore industries. Storm waves need to be avoided on shipping routes, which are evolving in the context of reduced Arctic Sea-ice (Aksenov et al., 2017, 2022). Waves are recognised as having an important role in air−sea fluxes and mixing processes in the ocean as well as contributing to changes in mean water level (e.g. Bonaduce et al., 2022). Storm surges (raised water levels driven by low pressure weather systems) can also impact the coast, as high winds act on the sea surface. Additional water level from storm surges can interact with tides, and waves, to cause coastal flooding.