It was described as one of the worst storms in living memory and caused millions of pounds of damage across the country.
The extreme weather on December 15 last year caused huge waves to crash over coastal protection and harbour walls throughout the north and north-east.
Cars were swept away and buildings destroyed as hurricane-force winds devastated parts of the coastline.
One oil worker died and 11 were rescued from an emergency standby vessel in the North Sea as gusts reached 80mph.
Huge waves caused part of the harbour wall at Balintore to collapse and seafronts at Lybster, Keiss and Helmsdale were also damaged in the natural onslaught.
Areas in Moray, such as Lossiemouth and Kingston, were also badly hit as was Peterhead’s Roanheads area, where huge waves swept cars away and brought down harbour buildings.
Authorities said a rare combination of tidal forces, strong winds and atmospheric pressure produced conditions not experienced in some communities in decades.
OVERCOME HUGE HURDLES
It was compared to “something out of the blitz” when the Perfect Storm hit Peterhead Harbour and brought the Mapco building in Greenwell Road to the ground.
The company owner, Nasar Rashid, was in London when told of the damage.
“You don’t realise the magnitude at first,” he said.
“I thought possibly one side of the building or the roof had come in. I flew straight up the next day and was shocked when I saw it.
“It took a week to understand what happened. It’s not something you see and digest, it’s something that does take a little bit of time to understand what happened.
“Nothing was salvageable. The whole building had been demolished, all the assets had been washed away. The water had actually taken most things into the sea, through windows and doors. It’s unbelievable.
“I was left with a heap of decaying fish. We had 100 tonnes of wet fish in there and about 50 tonnes of dry fish so you can imagine the smell that was going to be created if we didn’t sort it soon. We ordered a demolition and cleared up that day.”
Mr Rashid said the cost amounted to around £4million, which was luckily covered by his insurance.
His company, which specialises in dehydrating waste fish for underprivileged countries in Africa, was initially moved to a base at Seagate.
But now work is set to get underway on the former site at Peterhead Harbour. The new plant is expected to be finished by March.
Mr Rashid explained a new sea defence wall had been built and he felt confident that his business would be safe from damage.
“It’s a huge wall. I think previously it was a combination of the storm and the wall not being strong enough,” he said.
“If that goes, half of Peterhead will go, it’s that big a wall. Saying that, the elements are the elements, so you can never say. Look at the Phillipines, you can never tell. And you can’t stop running a business because of one incident. You can learn from it though.
“The way we have laid out the factory this time, the machines are on the farther side of the building, rather than beside the wall like we did last time. So if anything smashes against the wall it wouldn’t destroy all the machinery.
“The land is ideal for us because it’s right next door to all our suppliers so the minute they call us to come and collect fish, we are there within minutes.”
How does it feel to look back at the damage and how far he has come?
“I think when you see it, you don’t appreciate how hard it is going to be to get back up and running,” he added.
“It’s not like moving into a factory that’s already built. It’s looking at customer issues, staff issues, everything. It’s an unbelievable exercise.
“I am quite excited about getting up and running again. I don’t know how we pulled through. It’s taken us to maximum strength levels but the good thing is we’ve overcome a huge hurdle and a huge amount of experience has been gained.”
YOU’LL NEVER STOP THE NORTH SEA
When Sandy Stewart woke to the panicked sound of his wife’s voice at around 3am on Saturday, December 15, he knew something wasn’t right.
Mary, 74, had wakened 30 minutes earlier to the sound of the storm howling outside their bedroom window at 15 Turner Court, Stonehaven. She noticed flashing lights outside. However, she assumed it was just a thunder storm. But when it didn’t pass, she got up and peered out the window at the front of the house, much to her shock.
“She immediately shouted for me to get up,” said Sandy, 78. “We were flooded. And the lights outside were actually firemen and police outside the window.”
The waterfront sheltered housing estate bore the brunt of the huge waves which had come crashing ashore, destroying the boundary wall which stood between Turner and Hanover court and the wild North Sea. The powerful waves pummelled the front of the Stewart’s house, with water rising as high as their windowsill and seeping under their front door.
Only by Mary’s quick actions to block the water from spreading farther into their house using thick towels, did their property escape the worst effects of the flooding. They then made their way to the back of the house to make their escape.
“We grabbed our coats and the firemen took us out of the bedroom window,” said Sandy. “We realised then that water was right round the house, back and front, and going past the bedroom windows like a river.”
Compounding their concern was Sandy’s heart condition. By the time they arrived in a police car at St Bridget’s Hall which had been set up as a temporary refuge centre for the 25 evacuees from the sheltered housing estate, a medic was waiting for Sandy. Thankfully, it proved to be an unnecessary precaution.
He and Mary stayed most of the following week at their niece’s house in Newtonhill, returning only to remove water-damaged items from their house. Carpets and floor coverings were lifted, dirt and leaves were scraped out, and damaged furniture was removed.
It took around three months for their house to be back in order, but Sandy considers them to be lucky ones.
“Hanover Court was worse than us,” he said. “It was under three or four feet of water. Anyone on our side who didn’t open their front door wasn’t too badly affected.”
A year on, the damage has all but been fixed. A stronger boundary wall is almost complete, and many of the homes now contain flood gates which can be erected at a moment’s notice.
But with this month’s high winds giving cause for flood alerts to be raised in Stonehaven, the memories of last years’ storm are all too fresh.
“It was the worst experience I have had,” said Sandy. “And I wouldn’t want to go back through it again. But if you get a storm like that again, the water will come straight over the wall. You will never stop the North Sea.”
WORST STORM IN LIVING MEMORY
Easter Ross fisherman Jimmy Mitchell remembers the day of the “Perfect Storm” clearly.
“There wasn’t a breath of wind, but I saw the sea rolling in from miles away,” said Mr Mitchell, 58, from Portmahomack.
A few hours later, his 24ft boat Companion, which he’s owned for 30 years, nearly sank while tied up at Portmahomack harbour.
Huge 20ft to 30ft waves battered the harbour causing massive structural damage which left boats exposed to the raging storm.
It was only the quick actions of his son Greg who got on board and bailed out with a bucket that kept Companion afloat.
The storm left great slabs of stone strewn across and in the harbour and nearby pontoon making it unfit for most vessels including Mr Mitchell’s boat, which has a four foot draw.
“We lost about 60% of our gear, worth between £12,000 and £15,000.
“Of the 390 creels we had out that day, we recovered 180.
“But I was unable to fish while the harbour was out of action.
“I lost six months’ earnings. If it hadn’t been for my wife working I don’t know what I’d have done.
“You can get insurance for total loss of a boat but not for storm damage as it’s seen as an act of God.
“We repaired the damage to the boat but didn’t get it back in the water until May as I felt the harbour wasn’t safe to use.
“Harbour repair work started off fairly well in January but wasn’t fully completed until September as I believe there was a hold-up finding the right type of stone to re-build the wall.”
As for predicting the next big storm he said: “You always get storms between December and April but now we look at what’s happening farther out in the North Sea.”
Farther along the coast, Wick harbour was badly hit by the storm. Waves crashed over the 20ft storm defence walls into the town, tearing up roads, knocking down parts of the quay wall and overturning yachts.
Wick Harbour Authority chairman William Watt said: “It was the worst storm in living memory around here.
“It came in from the east with a vengeance and, coupled with the equinox high tide and the fact we had a lot of rain and the River Wick was in full spate, that gave us flooding in lower Pultneytown and the harbour area.”
The storm caused significant structural damage in and around the harbour and a year on, repairs which cost more than £500,000 aren’t expected to be completed until April 2015.
Mr Watt, 53, said the harbour workers had pulled together as a community in the aftermath.
He said: “The storm caused a whole raft of damage to roadways, walls and fences and moved the rock armour.
“We’ve completed these repairs with support from the Scottish Government but there’s still work to be done as and when funding becomes available.
“Considering the ferocity of the storm, the harbour weathered it pretty well due to the fact that we had proper rock armour and wave dissipation in place.
“We’re always conscious of an easterly gale, but the environmental elements which came together in that storm caught everyone out.”