The relation between the annual wind records from a weather station and annual mean sea level in an inter-tidal basin, the Dutch Wadden Sea, is examined. Only more recent, homogeneous wind records are used, covering the past two decades. It is demonstrated that even such a relatively short record is sufficient to find a convincing relation. The inter-annual variability of mean sea level can already be largely explained by the west–east component of the net wind energy vector, with some further improvement if one also includes the south–north component and theannual mean atmospheric pressure. For different tide-gauge stations in the Dutch Wadden Sea and along the coast, we find the same qualitative characteristics, although the precise values of the correlations vary. Correcting observed values of annual mean level for meteorological factors reduces the margin of error (expressed as 95 %-confidence interval) by about a factor of three in the trends of the 20-year sea level record. Model results illustrate the regional variability in annual mean sea level and its inter-annual variability. The sensitivity on wind direction varies spatially even on a small scale like the Dutch Wadden Sea. This study also implies that climatic changes in the strength of winds from a specific direction may affect local annual mean sea level quite significantly.