Abstract. January 2007 was a stormy period in Europe with impacts on
societal infrastructure and implications for energy meteorology. A series of
cyclones tracked across the North Atlantic and into Europe during the two
week period 8–22 January 2007. For many parts of Europe, Storm Kyrill on 18 January 2007 was the most important of these for the infrastructure damage
that it caused. It had the highest European storm-related insurance losses
in recent history. The storm spawned a high intensity derecho that started
in Germany and travelled across eastern Europe into the Black Sea region. It
was associated with severe convection, lightning, several tornadoes, and
strong wind gusts. The storm caused over 50 fatalities, widespread
disruption of transport and power networks, and a lot of forest damage. The
highest coastal water levels for the month at many tide gauge stations in
northwest Europe (and also for the year, in some cases) were registered
during Storm Kyrill. This contribution presents a literature review of the
storm characteristics and its impacts. This is followed by an analysis of
the North Sea tide gauge data to assess the storm surge, tidal variation,
and short-period seiche component around the North Sea. The water level
information is compared with shipping accidents and offshore incidents to
assess possible links. Unusually large waves had been registered at the
FINO1 offshore wind energy research platform and off the northern coast of
the Netherlands only a couple of months previously on 1 November 2006. While
Storm Kyrill caused a lot of societal damage on land areas, there was
comparatively little coastal damage around the North Sea and few reports of
offshore infrastructure damage linked to wave strikes.