Farmers share their memories of the Great Storm of 1987

Farmers Weekly readers are sharing their memories of the Great Storm of 1987 on the discussion forums.

It is the 20th anniversary of the storm which left 18 people dead, 15 million trees uprooted and farms without power for over two weeks.

The storm was also followed by a period of very wet weather which brought flooding to many parts of the country.

Writing on the FWiSpace discussion forums, Darling said: “There was no power and our generator powered by the tractor was too small. We could milk but did not have enough power to pump the milk through to the bulk tank, so we took a chainsaw and set off in the afternoon to our dairy supplier to get a generator.

“We had to cut fallen trees away on our route. Trees had blown down in a line as if they were dominoes. Devastation was every where. When we got to the suppliers – which was next door to a garage that did MOTs –  we were stunned to see that a steel girder had been ripped from the garage and ended up being thrown through the windscreen of a car and out the back window like a spear. Unbelievable.”

Another contributor Heatherp said: “Once we actually ventured out, all the roads were blocked and we spent the rest of the day out with the chainsaw clearing them. Our neighbour was killed as the roof fell down on him.

“We had no electricity for two weeks and I remember having a whole load of pies in freezer and we cooked them in Rayburn and took them round the village for the pensioners.

“I wouldn’t want to go through it again and always panic now when there are really strong winds, so it definitely stuck in my memory.”

Read other people’s stories from the Great Storm and add your own.