Giant waves, whipped up by Storm Helena, battered Nazaré in Portugal on Friday but the conditions were so treacherous that no surfers dared take on the famously extreme break.

Locals said this was the biggest day of the season and maybe the biggest in several years with waves estimated to have been more than 80-feet.

Despite the fact that no-one was surfing, crowds gathered by the famous lighthouse to watch the raw power of nature.

Pedro Miranda, the filmmaker who captured this footage said: "If the wind was off-shore or a bit lighter this could’ve been easily the day for a new record-breaking wave, the big ones were true monsters."

Praia do Norte beach, near the fishing village of Nazaré, became famous worldwide for huge waves in 2011 when Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara set a world record for the largest wave ever surfed at 78-feet. In 2017 that record was broken by Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa, who successfully rode a wave measuring 80-feet.

February 1st, 2019.
Today, Storm Helena brought the biggest waves of the winter to Nazaré but due to the strong winds, Surf was not possible. Even without surfers, Hundreds of people went to Praia do Norte in Nazaré, and gathered near the famous lighthouse to watch this Natural phenomenon, as Nazaré delivers the biggest waves on the planet.

The Nazaré harbour was closed most of the day with no surfers having permission to go out, a few surfers got permit to go outside only at late afternoon, despite their best efforts, conditions were far too extreme, and no surfer got to surf a wave successfully.

Locals say this was the biggest day of the season, and probably the biggest day in years, with the biggest waves of the day reaching easily 80ft and possibly more.

Pedro Miranda, the filmmaker who captured this footage said to Newsflare: "If the wind was off-shore or a bit lighter this could’ve been easily the day for a new record breaking wave, the big ones were true monsters and were breaking far outside, further outside then the record breaking wave from last season, which means bigger than the record breaking wave. It was a very intense day to be in Nazaré."

Praia do Norte beach, near the fishing village of Nazaré, has become famous worldwide for huge waves in 2011, when Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara set a world-record for the largest wave ever surfed at 78-foot at the time, in 2017 that record was broken by Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa, setting the bar at 80-foot.