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© Getty ImagesAn oil tanker heads into a monster wave.
Storm clouds were gathering as the boat ventured eastwards out of the port at around 1pm on March 3, 2010. The sea swell steadily increased during the first hours of the voyage, enough to test those with less-experienced sea legs, but still nothing out of the ordinary.
At 4.20 pm, the ship ran without warning into a wall of water 8 metres or more in height. As far as events can be reconstructed, the boat's pitch as it descended the wave's lee tilted it into a second, and possibly a third, monster wave immediately behind.
Water smashed through the windows of a lounge on deck 5, almost 17 metres above the ship's water line. Two passengers were killed instantly and 14 more injured.
Then, as suddenly as the waves had appeared, they were gone. The boat turned and limped back to Barcelona.
A few decades ago, rogue waves of the sort that hit the Louis Majesty were the stuff of salty sea dogs' legends. No more. Real-world observations, backed up by improved theory and lab experiments, leave no doubt any more that monster waves happen - and not infrequently. The question has become: can we predict when and where they will occur?
© WENN
A spokesman for the Met Office said this evening: "We are watching very carefully and the forecast is constantly under review and subject to change." Former BBC forecaster Michael Fish said air pressure at the centre of the storm is now dangerously close to last year's devastating St Jude's Day Storm, which killed five people.
Michael, 70, who notoriously told BBC viewers not to worry hours before the Great Storm of 1987, said yesterday: "There is some really nasty weather possible over the weekend. "We are in for almost autumnal weather and the message would be to batten down the hatches."
© AFP/Jiji Press
Typhoon Halong, which has already been unofficially classified as a super typhoon, has caused rains and winds of up to 198 kilometers (123 miles) per hour.
As of 3pm on Saturday, Halong was traveling north-northeast some 160 km south-southwest of Cape Ashizuri in Kochi Prefecture at 150 kph. The maximum sustained wind speed near its center was 126 kph, the Japan Times reported.
The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued the highest red-level weather alert, which means that the storm poses a threat to life and could inflict massive damage.
Strong winds have already left six people injured, one of them seriously, in Miyazaki prefecture in southern Japan.
© Reuters / NASAHurricane Iselle and Hurricane Julio (R) are pictured en route to Hawaii in this August 5, 2014 NASA handout satellite image. Hurricane Iselle is expected to make landfall on Hawaii August 7, 2014.
Iselle, a Category 1 storm, is forecast to arrive on Hawai'i Thursday night local time, then weaken and continue on to the rest of the islands by Friday, according to Weather.com. The storm defied expectations that it would weaken to a tropical storm over the course of the day Wednesday. Iselle is roughly 300 miles east-southeast of Hilo, on the island's eastern corner. It is moving quickly, at 15-20 mph.
"The real effects will probably be felt on the Big Island starting around noon" (6 p.m. ET) on Thursday, Norman Hui, a National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist in Honolulu, told USA TODAY. "The worst of it will be tonight. This storm is holding together pretty well."
The storm is currently weakening, and forecasters are unsure whether it will make landfall as a hurricane or a tropical storm, Weather.com reported. At 7 a.m. Hawaiian time (5 p.m. GMT), Iselle had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, placing it in the middle of the Cat-1 range (74-95 mph) on the Saffir-Simpson scale, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC).
© Dag Tore Larsen / NTB scanpixPeople trapped after avalanches occurred across Lyngen in Troms.
The avalanches went off at around 10pm on Thursday night in Kjosen in the Lyngen municipality of North Norway. Four of the avalanches reached all the way down to where people were living and the roads.
Between five and seven houses were trapped after the three first avalanches, and most of the people were rescued by boat. Noone were injured or missing.
A rescue helicopter trying to rescue trapped people had to turn around because of lightning and thunder. At the same time, great parts of the Lyngen municipality lost power.
The situation is now under control after 22 people were trapped inside their home and cars. Police are evaluating whether the people, who had to be evacuated, can return home.
© @erind11/TwitterGolf ball-sized hail struck suddenly in Airdrie, north of Calgary, Thursday afternoon.
Airdrie hail storm likely caused 'gustnado' in Calgary, officials say
Environment Canada says incident was not a tornado but rather a spout from an Airdrie storm
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a - "gustnado?"While police say they did receive several reports of a tornado touching down east of Métis Trail and north of Stoney Trail, Environment Canada says the incident was rather a gustnado, or spout from a nearby storm system battering Airdrie.
The weather agency says the storm system was not over Calgary at the time of the incident and the spiral winds likely came from the nearby storm.Det. Dale Seddon with the Calgary Police Service says the incident didn't cause any damage and hit a grassy area.
© Sarah BuistGolf ball-sized hail in Airdrie has caused damage to some vehicles and properties in the area.
© File photo: Rob Faulkner/Flickr
Powerful thunderstorms in the counties of Stockholm and Uppsala left thousands of households without power on Thursday morning. Multiple incidents of flooding and other alarms related to the weather have also been reported.
But the most dramatic scene was found in Saltsjöbaden, just outside of Stockholm.
"It was an unmanned boat moored in the lake," Björn Wrandel at the Sea Rescue Centre told news agency TT. "Apparently the lightning struck a huge hole in the boat and it sank incredibly quickly."
No one was injured in the incident.
Sweden's weather agency has issued a warning for extreme thunderstorms in Stockholm and Uppsala during the morning.
© MICHAEL J. FITZGERALD / CORRESPONDENT PHOTORiesling grapes were split by hail on Tuesday at Sawmill Creek in Hector.
The storm swept in about 3:30 p.m. and brought high winds, hail and heavy rain.
Some vineyards were minimally affected by the storm, but others weren't as lucky.
"I was at my other job at Hazlitt (1852 Vineyards) when the storm hit. My kids were home at the time. They said they saw some hail that was golf ball size," said Fred Wickham, owner of Tango Oaks Farm in Hector.
"I went out late (Tuesday) and did a crop assessment. In addition to wine grapes, I grow peaches that I sell fresh. They were already compromised by the excessively long and cold winter. It's 100 percent loss on the peaches. They were pulverized by the hail.
© APMany bridges have been damaged or swept away by rivers bursting their banks.
The latest floods, caused by heavy rains, have damaged roads, bridges and hundreds of homes in western Serbia and in central and northern Bosnia.
Floods in the same area in May affected nearly two million people and caused billions of euros of damage.
Many of the victims criticised the official response at the time.
Local media in Serbia say a man, aged 65, drowned after floodwaters swept through his home in Banja Koviljaca, in the west of the country.
