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The effects of tides on the Mediterranean Sea's general circulation, with a particular focus on the horizontal and vertical currents, are investigated using twin simulations with and without tides. Amplitudes of tides in the region are typically low, but an analysis of the potential and kinetic energy demonstrates that tides have effects across many spatial and temporal scales in the basin, including non-linear effects in short periods (less than 1 d) with high kinetic energy peaks at near-inertial basin modes and tidal frequencies. Internal tidal waves are also revealed below 100 m. Tides are found to amplify several basin modes of the Mediterranean Sea, broaden several tidal frequency energy spectra bands, and interact energetically with near-inertial waves. Tides increase the mixed layer depth in the Mediterranean Sea, particularly in the deep and intermediate water formation areas of the western Mediterranean Basin and eastern Mediterranean Basin. The addition of tides in the cases considered does also enhance Western Mediterranean Deep Water formation.

The Mediterranean Forecasting System produces operational analyses and reanalyses and 10 d forecasts for many essential ocean variables (EOVs), from currents, temperature, salinity, and sea level to wind waves and pelagic biogeochemistry. The products are available at a horizontal resolution of 1/24∘ (approximately 4 km) and with 141 unevenly spaced vertical levels. The core of the Mediterranean Forecasting System is constituted by the physical (PHY), the biogeochemical (BIO), and the wave (WAV) components, consisting of both numerical models and data assimilation modules. The three components together constitute the so-called Mediterranean Monitoring and Forecasting Center (Med-MFC) of the Copernicus Marine Service. Daily 10 d forecasts and analyses are produced by the PHY, BIO, and WAV operational systems, while reanalyses are produced every ∼ 3 years for the past 30 years and are extended (yearly). The modelling systems, their coupling strategy, and their evolutions are illustrated in detail. For the first time, the quality of the products is documented in terms of skill metrics evaluated over a common 3-year period (2018–2020), giving the first complete assessment of uncertainties for all the Mediterranean environmental variable analyses.