WATCH VIDEO - Storm Eunice: Massive 22ft waves battered Hastings and Bexhill, weather data shows

The biggest wave - 22ft (6.75 metres) - was recorded at just after 12pm noon during high tide. Another fractionally smaller wave hit at 3pm. By midnight, 15ft waves (4.5 metres) continued to pound the Bexhill and Hastings coastline.

Kevin Boorman, from Hastings Borough Council, said: “Over the weekend, the waves eased slightly, though we continued to see some waves as high as 15ft, and waves continued to be as high as 11ft on Tuesday (February 22).”

He said the data was recorded by the Pevensey wave buoy, off the coast of Bexhill. The Rye Bay wave buoy, off Fairlight, east of Hastings, “recorded even bigger waves but stopped transmitting data during the storm’s peak, presumably because the instruments were overwhelmed.”

Car swamped by huge wave as Storm Eunice batters coast in Hastings area

Record-breaking winds lashed the south coast on Friday after a rare red weather warning was issued in East and West Sussex, with the “danger to life” alert upgraded to its highest level. Flood warnings were issued for Hastings, St Leonards, and between Fairlight and Dungeness. Emergency services warned people to stay away from the sea. One picture showed a car swamped by a wave that crashed over the sea wall in Hastings Old Town.

The storm - the worst the country had seen in years - ripped apart the famous De La Warr Pavilion Bandstand in Bexhill. The iconic piece of architecture - installed 20 years ago and a popular attraction for visitors and tourists to the town - soon lay in pieces on the seafront as the fury of Storm Eunice did its worst.

Bexhill: De La Warr Pavilion Bandstand ripped apart by Storm Eunice as record-breaking winds hit UK

A record wind gust for England of 122mph was recorded at the Old Battery on the Isle of Wight - stronger than the 115mph gale that battered Shoreham, West Sussex, in the 1987 storm. Areas in Hastings and Rother were more sheltered, but Friday’s winds still topped 80mph in places, and continued to blow hard over the weekend, with yellow wind warnings still in place in Hastings and Rother on Monday (February 21).

Residents queue for bottled water in Bexhill

For the latest breaking news where you live in Sussex, follow us on Twitter @Sussex_World and like us on Facebook @SussexWorldUK