IT’S hard to believe that five years have passed since the devastating Valentine’s Day storms that battered the Dorset coast.

If we thought the snow that hit the county at the end of January was bad, it’s certainly worth casting our memories back to 2014.

Dubbed the Valentine’s Day storm, lives were in danger as winds of up to 80mph and waves more than 30ft high pounded coastal areas.

Roofs were torn from homes, there were landslides and power cuts, lorries toppled over with the force of the wind and hundreds of people were evacuated.

A major incident was declared with police, the military, Dorset Councils, the Environment Agency and volunteers all helping keep people safe and clean up the damage.

Here are some pictures – and some incredible stories – from our archives, looking back at the storms that we will remember for a long time to come.

  • West Bay was battered by the weather from early February, with the Esplanade closed and some residents evacuated due to the hurricane-like conditions. Residents said it 'was like a bomb had gone off'. These people ventured out in the morning to discover their car had been buried under roofing felt that was torn off their home.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

  • High-sided vehicles were kept away from the A35 between Bridport and Dorchester as the winds whipped up but it was too late to topple a lorry at Askerswell and a van which blew over at Winterbourne Abbas.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

West Bay Road was closed when a huge tree fell down - it had to be removed using a JCB.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

West Bay Road was closed when a huge tree fell down - it had to be removed using a JCB.

  • Speaking of trees being blown down, this one closed the A35 between Bridport and Dorchester for more than two hours when it blocked the road at Winterbourne Abbas

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

  • Lyme Regis residents called it 'the worst storm in 50 years' with the Cobb swamped by massive waves. Gail Pitter caught these pictures of the storm in full force, plus the devastation it wreaked to Lyme Regis beach:

Bridport and Lyme Regis News: Bridport and Lyme Regis News: Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

  • And the weather caused a massive cliff fall at East Beach in West Bay - luckily no one was caught in it.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News: