The island had another encounter with extreme weather conditions. Holidaymakers were baffled by seven-metre waves rolling relentlessly over the coral reefs to splash on the beaches of the west coast. Such waves usually occur only during cyclones.

?Those waves we saw for several days last week from Poste Lafayette to Le Morne are not due to cyclonic conditions. They are the spin-off of extreme weather conditions due to global warming?, says director of Meteorological Services, Sok Appadu.

Those weird waves, resulting from gusts blowing towards the island from the Equator, were reckoned dangerous. Ships cruising in the vicinity were requested to watch out. If the waves abated without making any victim, they however wrecked the seaside vacation of many who made a long weekend of Thursday?s public holiday. Open-air restaurants on Port Louis waterfront had to pack up tables, chairs and umbrellas lashed down by waves.

This tidal wave was the latest of a series of extreme weather hitting Mauritius. In January last year, the island suffered from flash floods. Port Louis and Quatre Bornes were the hardest hit with 80 mm of rain between 30 minutes and an hour.

The most dangerous phenomenon to hit the island was midget storms in Grand Bay and Le Bouchon, in the South. ?Midget storms cover an area of about five square kilometres with gusts above 200 kilometres per hour, very active thundering activity and sudden downpour. They are very difficult to forecast and can only be predicted at best an hour before they hit. Mauritians should learn to live with this type of extreme weather?, says Sok Appadu.

Last week's big waves were however predictable. With cyclone Elita off the south-east of Madagascar and a low-pressure zone in the vicinity, we ended up with a deep low-pressure area south west of Mauritius. A north west wind then rushed from the Equator towards that zone. It reacted with the sea surface, causing waves when we were entering the full moon phase, which increases high tide.

Met Services link the high rainfall early this year, 177 % above normal average, to extreme weather conditions. Temperatures have been above average by one or two degrees. Last Friday, Met Services expressed fears that high temperatures combined with high levels of humidity, could spell disaster for asthma patients, young children and old people.