Look back to 1998 storm that knocked Hunterston B offline

The hurricane force winds hammered Ayrshire on December 26, 1998, causing widespread damage in one of the worst ever storms to batter the area.

In a series of local incidents, large parts of the roof were blown off from the Hutton Park Nursing Home on Largs seafront, the roof took off 'like a parachute' at Haylie Hotel, and a guest house in Aubery Crescent also had its roof blown off onto the nearby North Grove Nursing Home.

Thankfully there were no casualties.

And in another close escape, resident Robbie Stevenson, who is now a community councillor, and his young family were enjoying party games with relatives when a tree came crashing down on their home Hillside Cottage, over the kitchen and stairwell area. 

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Also taking place in 1998, Scotland World Cup fever hit St Mary's Primary (above), and Fairlie Library was averted from closure (below) after a community campaign.

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Largs man David Hewitt oversaw the transition of the Largs Lifeboat Station when it opened in the summer of 1998, and he guided Princess Anne on a tour of the new facility. 

The lifeboat station was established in 1964, with David joining up just six years later, and played an important role in shaping the local RNLI service in the year for decades.

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And to keep the nautical theme going, the late Duncan Winning made headlines just a week after the Boxing Day storm, when he kayaked into Largs Main Street from the aptly named Bath Street during a seafront flood - which even featured on the STV News that night.