"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, accept at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness." - Edward Bulwer-Lytton from his 1830 novel, 'Paul Clifford'.

It was a dark and stormy night, not fit for human travel the family agreed. So a roaring fire was built, a hearty rum punch concocted and hot chocolate poured for the children. As each of us gazed into the fire, memories of times past became the conversation of the evening. And a new memory was made.

It was a dark and stormy night, the lights had all went out and it was so cold you could see your breath, where out of nowhere came Santa Clause being lead by Rudolph. Rudolphs red nose lit up the sky like the 4th of July, everyone began dancing and soon the cold turned warm, everyone began hugging and clapping and Santa and the reindeers stopped by for a cup of Christmas cheer and some good old fashion cookies and conversation and everyone lived happily ever after

It was a dark and stormy night, lightning crashed outside our house, briefly illuminating our writhing, sweaty bodies on the staircase. Unhampered by electricity, we made our own. Sparks flew...the Earth moved...then the "rain" came in torrents.

It was a dark and stormy night and the weather forecaster had said it would be 'a bit windy'...... As I looked out of the window, safe and warm in my house, the wind grew stronger and stronger, the trees shook violently, dustbins started flying around, even the house shook.
The wind raged even louder and kept me awake as I lay in my bed, warm and cosy under the duvet, feeling thankful I wasn't outside - I had never known the wind to gust so fiercely.
In the morning, after my broken night's sleep, I turned on the news to find that half of London had been torn apart, hundreds of trees had been ripped from the ground, cars had flown through the air, trees had fallen onto cars, total devastation..

'A bit windy', the forecaster had said.. We, had had - a Hurricane!