The end of the year is almost upon us.

So the Daily Echo is taking a look back across the year to remember the big stories to make our pages over the past 12 months.

Now we look at February where the county was ravaged by stormy weather, Southampton celebrated its 50th anniversary of city status and a toddler survived being trapped in the back seat of a car crashed by a 50ft tree.

Here are the major stories from February:

  •  SISTERS Christine Honour, Carol Penman and Lesley Garnham were devastated when workmen left a huge mountain of earth on their brother’s grave on the anniversary of his death.

When they arrived at Millbrook Cemetery to pay their respects, they were horrified to find his grave buried under a mountain of earth and his flowers thrown to the side.

Tyre marks were fresh in the mud and other graves leading to John Garnham’s had been smashed.

Daily Echo:

  •  POLICE had to hold back a grieving dad as he threatened to kill the pensioner who knocked down his young son in a fatal accident.

Chaotic scenes unfolded during an inquest into the death of 20-year old Steven Johnson, who died as he walked down the middle of an unlit road after a night out.

Hampshire Coroner’s Court heard how Jack Doswell, 75, carried on driving after knocking a hole through his shattered windscreen so he could see, telling officers he thought he had hit a deer.

Police officers and relatives had to intervene and hold back dad James while coroner Simon Burge was hearing evidence about the collision from a witness.

  • SCHOOLS were shut, homes flooded, businesses plunged under water, roads closed and roofs blown off homes as wild weather wreaked havoc across Hampshire.

The county endured another torrid weekend of heavy rainfall and severe winds – following more than a month of wet and stormy weather – which ripped the roof off a block of flats in Southampton.

Severe weather warnings were issued for most of Hampshire after the Met Office forecast torrential rain which left flooding chaos in its wake.

Around 15mm to 30mm of rainfall fell during the weekend, with gusts of up to 70mph recorded.

In Romsey, residents were forced to evacuate their homes as the floodwaters rose.

Daily Echo:

  •  GAMBLING giant Aspers made its bid to become part of the £330m plans for Southampton’s Royal Pier site.

The firm, which runs the only two super-casinos in the UK, drew up a multi-million-pound licensing bid for a new branch which it hoped would create hundreds of jobs.

Several plans for redevelopment at the derelict Royal Pier site have come and gone over the past decade.

The city council is one of only eight authorities in the country with the right to hand out a “large casino” licence.

The licence would allow an operator to build a casino housing up to 150 slot machines with jackpots of up to £4,000, and up to 30 tables for blackjack and poker.

  • MORE than 30 restaurateurs were evacuated from a cafe in Hampshire as the coast was battered by 100 mile-an-hour winds.

The Marine restaurant in Milford on Sea, a romantic waterfront cafe became the centre of a dramatic Army rescue on Valentine’s Day evening.

Cars were tossed around like toys and dumped haphazardly on the road and beach leaving damage running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Witnesses said it was like a scene from a war zone.

Hundreds of trees were brought down leaving tens of thousands of homes without power.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service received more than 230 emergency calls and attended 120 incidents within 24 hours.

Southern Electric said it had restored power to more than 174,000 affected homes in south and central England, but 6,000 remained without power.

Daily Echo: Clean up at battered restaurant after 80 mile an hour storm

The Marine restaurant in Milford on Sea was badly damaged by storms

  • A TODDLER was trapped in the back seat of a car crushed by a 50ft tree – and survived.

This dramatic picture was taken by a Daily Echo reader after Hampshire was once again battered by ferocious 90mph winds and heavy rain – as the military moved in to help fight the floods.

Amazingly the frightened two-year-old girl escaped unharmed from the wreckage of the people carrier in Freemantle Common Road, Southampton, after the beech tree came crashing down on top of it amid ferocious high winds.

The vehicle was being driven by Corinne Isaacs, a 44-year-old childminder, who was on the school run driving towards Spring Road when the tree came down.

Daily Echo:

  •  A TWO-pronged attacked was launched to save Winchester from disappearing under water.

But fears were high that the bid would fail, as 60mm or three-quarters of a month’s rainfall was expected over the course of the next five days.

Firefighters, Royal Navy personnel, council workers, police officers and Environment Agency workers all joined forces to build a 70ft barrier across Park Avenue and create a massive artificial pond at Easton to ease pressure on the under-threat city.

As dusk approached on Wednesday night, a 50-strong team got to work on building the barrier, which successfully pulled the water back from the road’s edge and kept Winchester open for business.

  • SOUTHAMPTON citizens were urged to become patriotic and cry “God for Harry, England and St George”.

A group of prominent figureheads felt Southampton does not do enough to celebrate St George’s Day.

People living in Southampton were urged to come up with ideas to celebrate the saint’s patron day. Revellers were urged to hold parties in pubs, organise family get-togethers or simply fly the flag.

Labour MP John Denham said: “We have got lots of different festivals in the city, which is great, but we have not got one big festival for England that gets everyone together.”

Daily Echo: 'St George' is ready for action at The Bargate

  •  YET more flooding misery – a major evacuation was under way amid fears of life-threatening floods in a Hampshire town.

Police urged residents in Lymington to leave their homes while a leisure centre became a makeshift shelter for the night after warnings of a potentially deadly tidal surge.

The Environment Agency stationed a huge pump outside the Ship Inn in preparation for when the tide was expected to rise and the water to breach the seawall.

There were fears that if pumping was unsuccessful, floodwater could swell to more than half a metre deep in some areas of the town.

The Army was drafted in to help build flood defences as the county was once again battered by 80mph winds, heavy rain and flooding. But worse was to come.

  • FRIENDS Anthony Nicholls, 31, and Daniel Richardson, 28, from Bitterne Park opened up a micropub the size of an average living room.

At just 12ft by 27ft, the Butcher’s Hook was the only micropub in the county.

Hundreds of people flocked to the tiny watering hole in Bitterne Park Triangle which its owners believed would breathe new life into the area.

Previously the premises was a butcher’s, a florist and a picture framer’s.

Daily Echo:

Anthony Nicholls at the Butcher's Hook micropub

  • WHEN three-legged dog Shadow was rescued from Spain it was unclear whether he’d ever be able to walk, run or play again.

The 16-month-old German shepherd lost his fore paw after getting caught in a trap in Spain.

Shadow was fitted with a new prosthetic leg after donations flooded in following an appeal by the Daily Echo allowing him to lead a normal life.

He was taken to a rescue centre but if Sara May from Totton had not adopted him and brought him home to the UK the centre would have put him down.

With help from the Daily Echo Sara raised £6,000, including a donation of £2,000 from a retired Totton man, which paid for a new leg to be made especially for him by a pets prosthetics company in America.

  • TRIBUTES were paid to a biker renowned for her huge generosity and bubbly personality.

Carol “Bubbles” Carr, 50, spearheaded huge motorbike convoys delivering thousands of presents and chocolates to generations of disadvantaged children.

The county’s biking community was left reeling in the wake of her tragic death in a rush-hour road smash in West End.

Daily Echo:

Hundreds of bikers turned out for Carol 'Bubbles' Carr's funeral

  • SOUTHAMPTON celebrated the 50th anniversary of its city status.

Every school in the city was presented with a special 50th anniversary plaque.

Fifty musical experiences were staged and schools were invited to sign up to them in preparation for a month of performances in June.