A hurricane (also known as a tropical storm and a typhoon) is the largest storm in the world. It is formed when very hot air near the Equator moves over very hot oceans. Huge amounts of warm moisture are evaporated from the oceans and the heat of the moisture gives the storm the energy it will need to become so violent. As the hot air moves away from the Equator, it begins to form into giant spinning wheels of air which can be seen by the cloud that forms in them.

One of the best places to see a hurricane is from space. Satellites can look down on hurricanes and see them as ‘catherine-wheels’ of spinning cloud.

The strange hole in the middle is called the ‘eye’ of the hurricane. In the eye there is almost no cloud and no wind. This satellite image is looking down on the Gulf of Mexico and the south coast of the United States. The hurricane is 800km across! (Twice the width of Britain).

The video below shows the tracks of hurricanes off the coast of America one summer season.