Coastal regions around Australia are experiencing unusually high tides this week, flooding some low-lying areas, thanks to an unusual confluence of astronomical and meteorological factors.

The so-called wolf moon - the first full moon of the year - also happens to be a "super moon". At some 50,000 kilometres closer than its furthest extent - a phase of proximity that "makes men mad" according to Shakespeare - our nearest partner in space is exacting an extra pull on the world's water.

Walking on water in Woy Woy: king tide inundates a low-lying pier on Tuesday. Credit:Nick Moir

The earth's own orbital eccentricity with the sun also means that at this time of year, we are about 5 million kilometres closer to the sun - a point known as the perihelion - than at our most distant in July.

"With this super moon and perihelion, what we're experiencing is the full might of the gravitational force" on the earth, said Alan Duffy, an astronomer and associate professor at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. "You can expect a larger range in the tides both high and low."