HEWITT'S HISTORY FILES

BBC weather forecaster Michael Fish dismissed the idea of a hurricane 20 years ago this month '“ but he also told the nation to "batten down the hatches for some extremely stormy weather".

No one could have predicted just how extreme that storm was going to be.

And for Brighton's Royal Pavilion the timing couldn't have been worse.

The Music Room '“ newly restored after an arson attack in 1975 '“ took the brunt when a stone weighing a ton and a half fell through the highly-ornate ceiling, burying itself deep in the floor.

At the time of the storm, the Royal Pavilion was shrouded in what was then the widest span of scaffolding ever constructed in Europe. But at around 3.30am, winds of up to 100 miles per hour shifted the scaffolding above the roof of the Music Room, causing the finial of one of the minarets to fall through the domed ceiling.

In a sense, it was one of the countless lucky escapes of the night. The damage was nowhere near as devastating as it could have been.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette October 24