The story of the 1977 floods which ripped a seawall down and battered the Blackpool coast

Across the North West, more than 5,000 properties and 7,900 acres of agricultural land were flooded.

During the tidal flooding events - which ravaged on the night of November 11 - there were approximately 60 breaches of flood embankments.

The worst affected towns were Fleetwood, Knott End, Pilling, Blackpool and Morecambe.

Unlike the devastating floods which had hit Fleetwood 50 years earlier, killing six, no loss of human life was reported in 1977, but the flooding of agricultural areas resulted in the loss of hundreds of cattle, sheep and pigs .

Sea levels reached 6.2m in Fleetwood, after a Force 10 storm - gusting to Force 12 - over the Irish Sea hit the area.

The flooding - which was extensive, with homes, businesses, public buildings, roads and electricity all affected - was sudden and unexpected, there were no arrangements of giving advanced warnings to the public in place at that time.

I remember waking as a four-year-old in the back bedroom of our house which, in those days, overlooked playing fields. It’s a tiny but distinctive memory of seeing what looked to me, like the sea had crawled into our garden. And I also vividly remember how the water had leveled at the top of the step at the front door, saving us from flooding.

But not everyone was so lucky.

The sea had crumbled parts of the sea wall in Fleetwood and swamped around a third of the town.

The area where roads and houses were flooded stretched from Rossall School to the Fleetwood Sea Cadet base, a distance of two miles.

Water had also flowed on to the Flakefleet estate.

All emergency services, including Wyre Borough Council, combined, as people fled their homes carrying children and possessions.

Broadway was blocked and only juggernaut lorries were able to reach stranded people.

Even when the tide turned the following night, the water did not disappear because of drains blocked by debris and the next morning, much of the town was still under water.

The 1977 floods left a lasting mark on the Fylde Coast, remembered as a stark reminder of the power of the Irish Sea and the vulnerability of coastal communities.