Diane Wakeline (nee Bass) will never forget the Great Storm - because it was tied up with her wedding.

She said: “I was married on October 17, 1987... it will be my silver wedding this month.

“My husband Neil’s stag night was actually on the night of the hurricane, and they were all remarking how windy it was getting as they left the pub.

“I can remember tripping around in my new white, high heels - trying to wear them in for the big day, when the extension on my parents’ house started leaking and roof tiles were lifting up and down like piano keys.”

Her dad Eddy, by now drunk from the stag do, stepped in and told her there was nothing much they could do.

And she snapped back: “But not everyone’s getting married.”

The couple had bought a house in Tovil which they were renovating. On October 16, just a day before the wedding, Neil sneaked a look and found roof and side tiles missing and ceilings bowing with water.

“My husband kept this bit of news from me until we were on our honeymoon in Camarthen, Wales. Which, by the way, was also flooded,” she added.

Mrs Wakeling (pictured above with Neil and left, on their wedding day), who now lives in Tudor Avenue, Maidstone, said: “The hurricane is always a talking point in our family, our eldest dog’s Kennel Club name is even ‘Hurricane Wake’ and our wedding pictures have fallen trees in them.”

As her dad got up to do his speech, a council worker started up a chain saw to cut down a tree nestling through the roof of the church hall in north Kent, hosting their reception.

The couple are planning a party this month for their silver wedding anniversary.