Trees fell on roads across Kent during the Great Storm of '87

It was the morning after the night before that no one will ever forget.

People across Kent were waking up to the devastation left by the Great Storm of 1987 exactly 25 years ago today.

Winds of more than 130 miles-an-hour battered the county, flattening trees and ripping tiles from rooves.

The clean-up operation was widespread, with the damage meaning some areas of Kent were without power for three weeks.

The town of Sevenoaks was among those left ravaged by the hurricane-force winds - with six of its seven iconic trees uprooted.

Jill Davidson, a junior councillor at the time, said: "There was an awful amount of damage - a massive amount. It was very fortunate there were few injuries, becasue it was in the middle of the night.

"It was quite impossible to get around - you had to cut your way through.

"We've been known round the world now as Oneoak because of the iconic picture of Sevenoaks' one remaining tree meant we'd change our name overnight... until we put the new ones in."

Four people lost their lives in Kent in a night that changed the face of our county forever.

It was the worst storm to hit England since the Great Storm of 1703 (284 years earlier) and was responsible for the deaths of at least 22 people in England and France combined (18 in England, at least four in France).

Hurricane force winds battered Kent and the south east in what weather experts described as a ‘once in 200 years storm’.

Most of the storm damage occurred between 2am and 6am on the morning of October 16, with winds reaching up to 110mph.

Fifteen million trees were lost across the area affected by the storm.

Many residents cowered in their beds as the storm passed over their homes and then woke to scenes of devastation including fallen trees, broken fences, damaged cars and slates stripped from roofs.

Many rail lines had to be closed because of fallen trees and wrecked power lines.

Repairs cost billions of pounds and took months, if not years, to complete.