Here we go. The first sign of these back-to-back swells filled into Europe over the weekend, setting off spots across multiple countries, including the UK, Ireland, Spain and of course Portugal and its hyper spectacle wave Nazare.

Yesterday and Saturday were paddle days for the world’s biggest wave. The swell had a load of west in it, which isn’t ideal for Nazare, so first impressions were that we wouldn’t get those tee-pees, bombing to shore at Praia do Norte. But that ominous, deep-water canyon off the headland there can do miraculous things – like, jacking a pounding swell into some XL smashers.