## 1 Introduction  
The EU has around 68,000 km of coastline which borders six main maritime basins: the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea and the outermost regions. Coastal areas are of vital importance not only because they are home to unique ecosystems, but also because they are preferential human settlement sites of enormous relevance to the European economy. Approximately 40% (around 206 million people) of the EU's population lives within 50 km of the sea and almost 40% of the EU's GDP is generated in these coastal regions [1]. The Mediterranean and the Northeast Atlantic Ocean coastlines are the most populated (36% and 29.5% of the EU coastal population, respectively). The projection for 2035 in Europe foresees an increase of 1.15% in the human population living in coastal areas [2]. Additionally, these coastal areas concentrate key infrastructures for world maritime trade (i.e., the ports of Barcelona, Valencia and Lisbon), strategic energy facilities (refineries, petrochemical and nuclear power plants), the fish farming industry (the Ebro delta, Galician estuaries, and French coast) and, of course, tourist resources associated with beaches and marinas (Costa del Sol, Costa Brava, and the Balearic Islands) and nature (wetlands such as Donana and the Cies Islands). The enormous tourist development of these coastal regions has led to major interventions and transformations of the territory due to unprecedented urban planning. In many cases, the coastline is subjected to pressure far beyond its capacity, with serious environmental and social consequences. The case of the Spanish coastline is particularly significant. According to a recent report [3], over the last 30 years, the urbanized area of the Spanish coast has doubled. 13.1% of the coastline and 37% of Spanish beaches are urbanized. The magnitude in some areas is such that the coastline of Costa del Sol municipalities (South of Spain) is 90% urbanized. Extreme weather events (EWE) have a severe impact on coastal areas and these regions are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. These extreme events can be defined based on the extraordinary nature of the data on temperature, precipitation, wind speed, sea level and atmospheric pressure, among other factors, including sea storms that can reach the level of hurricanes. They are also defined by their impact on society, including a high number of fatalities and high economic and environmental losses. Extreme weather events on the coast often lead to cascading processes: sea level rise, marine encroachment and coastal flooding, river flooding, coastal erosion, beach retreat, rockfalls and landslides in cliff areas, etc. The effects of the sum of these processes on an anthropized coastline can be devastating, causing fatalities and injuries; damage to housing, services, infrastructure and urban furniture, cultivated areas, and ecosystems; dragging of vehicles; interruption of activity, water and electricity supply cuts, etc. [PERSON] et al. (2004) [4] examined the evolution in the occurrence of storms on the European Atlantic coast (from Ireland to Spain) for the period 1940-1998. Results indicate a seasonal shift in the wind climate, with more severe winters and calmer summers established regionally. This pattern appears to be linked to a northward displacement in the main North Atlantic cyclone track. On the other hand, during the last decades, several parts of the West Mediterranean basin have experienced significant changes in wave storm intensity related to an increase in wave storm durations. These relevant increases are primarily observed in the Alboran and Balearic basins [5]. According to recent studies [6; 7; 8; 9] during the last decades, damage caused by extreme weather events in Europe has increased considerably, especially that related to heavy precipitation events and storm surges. The primary reasons are not only linked to climate change, but also to increased exposure of the population and other vulnerable elements.