Ten years ago today a freak storm caused devastation across the North East.
Skies across the region suddenly turned black on the afternoon of June 28, 2012, and torrential rain began to pour down as the "supercell thunderstorm" began. Two weeks’ worth of rain fell in just an hour at one point as home and roads were severely flooded.
The storm, dubbed "Thunder Thursday," caused millions of pounds worth of damage, devastating homes and businesses.
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At least 23,000 homes were left without power across Consett, Whitley Bay, Prudhoe, Shiremoor, Newcastle City Centre, and Stanhope. Meanwhile, the transport network was thrown into chaos, with the entire Metro system brought to a halt after stations and large sections of track were flooded.
Now, a decade since the storm, we've spoken to those who have vivid memories of where they were that day as they look back on the surreal experience.
Firefighters rescue people from their homes
Firefighter Mark Barton was the crew manager on nightshift at Tynemouth Community Fire Station on the day of the storm and remembers helping to save the life of an elderly man after floodwater poured into his Monkseaton home.
Mark, who is now operational standards manager for Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, said: " I remember the sky went almost a greeny-blue colour and then all of a sudden the rain came down. It was very dramatic and happened very quickly.
"For roughly 12 hours, we were going from home to home making sure people could get out of the water and be warm and safe - either upstairs in their house or with neighbours around them.
"We were on Brantwood Avenue in Monkseaton, which backs onto the Metro line, and I remember going into an elderly gentleman's house who had water basically up to his neck. The [rest of the water] was being kept at bay by his patio doors.
"If we hadn't have got there at that time who knows what would have happened."
Metro workers battle to resume service
Metro workers also faced a battle to restore services after the storm flooded lines and Metro stations. Haymarket and Monument stations were closed because of severe flooding in Newcastle city centre while the Metro line between Gateshead Stadium and Heworth and at Regent Centre and Shiremoor were completely submerged in water.
A total of 17 trains were stranded and customers were told they would have to find alternative modes of travel. Despite the scale of the damage, the Metro was back up and running by 6am the next morning as engineers worked through the night removing debris, recovering stricken trains and repairing damaged equipment.
Head of Engineering at Nexus, Brian Wilson, said: “The Metro suffered an unprecedented amount of damage on Thunder Thursday. It was the quickest we have ever seen severe weather force us to closer the whole network.
“There was widespread flooding of lines in multiple locations. The worst scene was at Felling, where water cascaded down onto the tracks and a large stone wall collapsed.
“Once the flood water had receded our teams had to go out and clear all of the debris and repair the flood damage to make it safe for operations to resume. There were trains stuck in the wrong places and many of them had suffered water damage that needed work back at the depot.
“The rain was so severe it even flooded part of our offices in Gosforth. I was unable to get home that night and many staff were unable to get into work to assist us.
“We set up a special incident room so we could co-ordinate our response and get all the repairs done as fast as possible. Many staff worked late and many more came in to help. It was a real team effort during a crisis.”
Workers unable to get home
As well as closing the entire Metro system, Thunder Thursday’ left the Central Motorway in Newcastle flooded and grid-locked. Lightning struck the Tyne Bridge and parts of Newcastle were flooded by water feet deep at rush hour with water cascading down Dean Street and Castle Stairs.
Mick Maldini said the city looked like a scene from the Harry Potter films as darkness descended. He said: "I remember the darkness falling over Tyne Bridge and expecting the Dementors to be chasing Harry Potter up Pilgrim Street."
Paul Watson, 39, from North Tyneside, had to spend hours sheltering in a pub in Newcastle city centre after being unable to get a bus or Metro home from work when the storm hit.
"I was at work in an office on Newcastle Business Park, right on the Quayside, when a fair few people in the office noticed the colour of the sky changing," he said.
"We were then greeted with mass floods on the road which blocked all traffic along the bottom road of the business park. We were notified that all buses and Metros were cancelled due to floods.
"At the time I didn’t drive, so asked my wife to see if she could get as close as possible and have me walk up to meet her. I made it to Haymarket on the advice from Metro staff that there may be buses running from there.
"But when I got there, there must have been about 500 people in the queue in hope for a bus to arrive. I decided that instead of waiting for a bus that may never arrive, I’d sit in “Old Orleans” pub in Haymarket and wait for further updates.
"It was right in the middle of Euro 2012 and the Germany v Italy game was on the TV, which certainly passed the time. Eventually, after many hours and a good few beers, my wife managed to drive through the traffic and collect me from the Hancock Museum and pick me up.
"It was a surreal experience, one that I don’t think we’ll see again in my lifetime."
Metrocentre flooded
The region’s biggest shopping centre, the MetroCentre in Gateshead, was forced to evacuate as floodwater poured in. Eldon Square in Newcastle closed along with the Hoppings Fair on the nearby Town Moor.
Nathan Bullock, 27, from Gateshead, was shopping with friends at the Metrocentre when water started to gush inside.
"It was crazy and quite a frightening experience," he said.
"The sky just went pitch black then it hammered down with rain. We were walking around the shops and the water was flowing back up through the drains on the floor and running down one of the lifts.
"Trying to get home was chaos as all the roads were flooded so buses could only go so far before we had to walk."
Proms cancelled
Many school leavers were left devastated after the prom they had spent months preparing for was cancelled just as they were about to set off.
Liam Smith, 25, from Consett, who was a Year 11 pupil at St Bede's at the time, said: "Our school Leaver's prom (Year 11) was meant to be at the Baltic but it was cancelled for obvious reasons. There was a group of us at a friend's house getting photos and then we were informed via a phone call that it wasn’t going ahead."
Pupils at Whitburn School were also left disappointed when their prom at Beamish Hall had to be called off because the roads down to the venue were flooded.
Laura Knowles, 26, from Boldon said: "When the bus stopped we thought it had broken down, but then a teacher came and told us that the roads were flooded and we had to turn back. There were definitely a few tears as people had spent a lot of money on their hair and makeup and dresses.
"I was really surprised when I saw how bad it was everywhere else. For some people, prom being cancelled was the worst thing in the world, but then you see the pictures elsewhere and you realise how much worse it could be.”
Newborn dash from hospital
Craig Jeavans, 39, from Crawcrook, was bringing his newborn baby daughter, Isla, and wife, Claire, home from Hexham Hospital when the storm hit.
The dad-of-two said: "The closer to home we got we could see the clouds rumbling in and it was getting darker by the second. As we pulled up outside the heavens opened and it was a mad dash to get our newborn into the house without her getting absolutely soaked.
"We didn't realise how bad it was going to be. We couldn't have timed it any better, it was unbelievable.
"Bringing your firstborn home is quite a daunting thing anyways as you are in charge of this new little human being and have never done it before. Then way coincided means it's a day we will certainly live in our memory for a long time!
"I reckon that if we had been half an hour later leaving the hospital, it would have been utter carnage. I don't know what would have happened."
Streets flooded
Daniel Fox, 30, from Greenside, said he was left wading through floodwater to try and make it home after a tough day at work.
"I can remember walking back from work in Team Valley in water up to my knees," he said.
"The Shell Garage at Bensham end had obviously leaked fuel because it had that oily shine to it. I was working at what was then called UK Mail and I had a horrific day with drivers being delayed for deliveries. It just never let up."
Jeff Johanson said he was forced to do the same in Monkseaton. "I was at home in Monkseaton where surrounding streets were flooded," he said.
"I had to eventually go out wading through the water above the knee. The Metro line nearby had broken its banks and it was chaos."
Chaos on the roads
Drivers also faced dangerous driving conditions as they tried to reach their destinations while the rain hammered down.
Brian Murphy, 40, from Stanley, said: "I was in Chester-Le-Street cricket club doing a speed awareness course when the rain started. It took me over an hour to get home to Stanley due to flooded roads when it would normally take less than 10 minutes."
Paul Robinson, who was working as a taxi driver that night, said getting around was a near-impossible task.
"I was a cabbie then in Consett, Durham, and spent two hours driving around back roads to no avail," he said.
"It was my daughter’s prom that evening, which was obviously cancelled. My son drove into Dipton and the car was submerged. My wife, daughter-in-law and granddaughter had to abandon ship."
Phil Bru said the roads were so bad it took him five hours to do a 20-minute journey from Dudley to a Silverlink hotel for a wedding.
"We pushed cars that were floating in the floods and avoided roads that were flooded," he said. "We even got fish and chips while we were stuck in traffic!"
And for learner driver Alan Ball, the chaos on the roads made for a stressful lesson around South Tyneside. He said: "I spent almost the whole hour in first gear driving through floods!"
Factory taken out for days
Gavin Thompson, 42, from Hebburn, was boarding a plane to Newcastle from Brussels when he learned about the chaos happening at home.
Gavin, who was working as an engineering manager at Pregis in Stanley had been away on a work trip when he received a call from his wife about the storm.
"I was buying machines in Italy and on my way home via a transfer stop in Brussels," he said. "My wife rang as I was on the runway saying the Tyne Bridge had been struck by lightning!
"The roof of the company I worked at couldn’t handle the water and the gutters overflowed uncontrollably and [affected] the mains incoming power, which took the factory out for days."
Office flooded
Simon Rudd, 44, from Gateshead, said the day of the storm is one he will never forget after the Newcastle office of chauffeur company, Parkers Executive Chauffeurs, was flooded. Simon said he had been taking clients to the airport when the storm broke and ended up dropping them off at the Hilton in Gateshead when it became clear their flight would not be going ahead.
He made his way to the office at the bottom of Forth Banks he found the surrounding roads were flooded and sewage water was gushing into the building.
"The cars were coming along the road and pushing water back to the office when we were trying to clear it out," Simon said.
Simon and the five members of staff in the office had to abandon their efforts but were unable to get home until after 10pm when because of the flooded roads.
"It was an absolute nightmare," Simon said.
"We had to move out of the office until it was repaired.
"It was an eventful day and I will always remember it. It was just one of those events that no one saw coming."
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