On a notoriously violent patch of the Atlantic Ocean north of Scotland and 160 kilometers west of the Shetland Islands, where winds howl at 80 kilometers an hour and waves can run 30 meters high, a brutish red vessel rolls in a mounting breeze.

FORBES: Going deep

Tropical Storm Florence strengthened a bit Saturday over the open Atlantic Ocean, its center about 515 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands as it headed toward the Leeward Islands.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Further north along the southwestern coast are the Skelligs, two islands that poke dramatically skywards out of the flinty waters of the Atlantic Ocean, nearly 12km off the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry.

BBC: Ireland��s outlying islands