The end of the last millennium or the beginning of the next, the debate raged all year. But as mankind entered Y2K worrying about how modern technology would cope when the calendar clicked over, the expected calamity came from the weather. Freak temperatures, devastating floods and destructive storms laid low all the latest technology the country could offer and confirmed the frailty of modern life. IAN LAMMING takes a look back at the year 2000

JANUARY

The year got off to a whimper as the dreaded millennium bug failed to bite and a largely trouble-free night of celebrations left millions of emergency service staff twiddling their thumbs and counting their overtime.

Andrew Watson was the region's first born, weighing in at 8lb 8oz, at 12.03am and 15 seconds, at Durham's Dryburn Hospital.

As a new life was born so an old one passed on and Eileen Betty Thompson was laid to rest by her son Richard in the rhubarb patch at the family home in Willington, County Durham.

But marriage was in the air too, as Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones and Hollywood star Michael Douglas announced their engagement.

Dr Harold Shipman, 54, was given 15 life sentences for the murder of 15 of his patients at his surgery in Hyde, Greater Manchester.

FEBRUARY

The Northern Echo called on readers to carry organ donor cards as an extension of the Chance to Live campaign to increase funding for heart bypass operations.

Health Secretary and Darlington's MP Alan Milburn announced an inquiry into how Harold Shipman was able to kill patients with a stockpile of drugs meant to relieve the pain of dying cancer patients.

Lord Archer stood down as Tory candidate for London Mayor and was expelled from the Conservative Party for five years after it emerged that he had asked a friend to lie before a libel case.

MARCH

Mr Milburn revealed a new blueprint to improve services for heart patients, marking a major landmark in the Echo's Chance to Live campaign.

The Queen and country saluted a forgotten army fulfilling a debt more than 50 years overdue. North-East munitions workers, known as the Aycliffe Angels, finally won national recognition for their war-time work at a remembrance ceremony held at Coventry Cathedral.

Widowed Sir Paul McCartney confirmed that he and former North-East model Heather Mills were "an item".

APRIL

Six-year-old Sally Slater, of Kirkby Malham, North Yorkshire, was given a chance to live thanks to an 11-hour heart transplant operation.

Billingham labourer William "Billy" Dunlop confessed to murdering pizza delivery girl Julie Hogg, 22, in 1989. But her family was devastated to hear that British law would not allow him to be tried twice.

Two Leeds United fans were killed by rival fans before a Uefa Cup semi-final clash against Turkish side Galatasaray in Istanbul.

Outcry met farmer Tony Martin's conviction of the murder of teenager Fred Barras who broke into his Norfolk farm.

MAY

A bad month for cruelty with The Northern Echo's Animal Watch campaign highlighting the scalding to death of a hedgehog, a puppy buried alive and a neglected horse which was so thirsty it drank 24 gallons of water.

Darlington FC owner and multi-millionaire George Reynolds was mugged in a London street.

Tony and Cherie Blair's fourth child Leo was born weighing 6lbs 12oz.

Barry Michael George was charged with the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando in April 1999.

JUNE

The first floods of the year struck in the North-East as the River Gaunless burst its banks leaving villagers of South Church, near Bishop Auckland, under water.

Suspended Cleveland detective Superintendent Ray Mallon was cleared of all criminal charges following a three year investigation. He remained suspended, facing internal disciplinary charges.

Champion jockey Frankie Dettori escaped with a broken ankle when the light aircraft in which he was travelling crashed over Newmarket, killing the pilot.

The Little Ships which helped evacuate thousands of British and French from the beaches of Dunkirk and Belgium in 1940, sailed from Dover to Dunkirk to mark the 60th anniversary of the evacuation.

JULY

Disgraced gynaecologist Richard Neale was struck off the medical register. Known as "The Butcher", the former surgeon at the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, was found guilty after the General Medical Council was told of a catalogue of errors over two decades.

The Northern Echo's anti-animal cruelty campaign Animal Watch was awarded the Regional Media Award by the RSPCA.

The body of Surrey schoolgirl Sarah Payne was found more than two weeks after she was abducted. It led to an outcry against paedophiles.

An Air France Concorde crashed into a hotel on the outskirts of Paris moments after take-off, killing all 114 passengers and crew on board.

AUGUST

Stalwart ex-Middlesbrough football player Willie Maddren, 49, died following a long struggle with motor neurone disease.

Sir Alec Guinness, one of the most versatile actors of stage and screen, died aged 86. Political interviewer Sir Robin Day died at the age of 76.

More than a hundred Russian sailors died, trapped in the Kursk nuclear submarine at the bottom of the Barents Sea.

SEPTEMBER

The North-East witnessed the most spectacular electrical storm in living memory.

Energy minister Helen Liddell announced measures aimed at speeding up the compensation process for thousands of North-East miners suffering from diseases contracted in the region's pits.

Cabinet Office Minister and Redcar MP Mo Mowlam announced plans to retire at the next General Election.

Britain came to a standstill as truck drivers blockaded oil depots in a five-day protest against high fuel prices.

Paula Yates, the television personality and former wife of Bob Geldof, was found dead at her west London home.

OCTOBER

The Northern Echo launched a campaign to close a legal loophole which allowed children to be carried on school buses without seatbelts.

Billingham schoolboy Jamie Bell shot to fame after starring in the screen blockbuster Billy Elliot.

Scottish First Minister Donald Dewar died of a brain haemorrhage after a fall outside his official residence.

Severe floods caused millions of pounds of damage to homes and businesses.

Four people died after a high-speed train derailed. The London to Leeds GNER service came off the line at Hatfield in Hertfordshire.

NOVEMBER

Heavy rain, thunder and lightning swept Britain and up to 6,000 people in York were evacuated from their homes in rising flood waters.

The world's first rotating bridge was moved into place across the River Tyne at Newcastle. Nicknamed the winking eye, the Millennium Bridge is made from a pair of steel arches which open like an eyelid to allow large boats to sail underneath.

The Queen Mother broke her collarbone in a fall at her London home, Clarence House.

Siamese twin Jodie survived a complex 15-hour separation operation which ended the life of her weaker sister Mary.

Police launched a murder hunt after ten-year-old Damilola Taylor bled to death in an attack as he walked home on a south London estate.

DECEMBER

The Northern Echo launched an appeal to send two-year-old Hannah Maxwell-Jones from Nunthorpe, to America for an operation to remove a facial disfigurement. A charity ring-in raised more than £30,000 in one day.

Operation Lancet, into alleged corruption in Cleveland Police, came to an end after three years. More than 60 officers faced almost 600 allegations.

An historic summit between Tony Blair and French president Jacques Chirac was held at The County pub in Aycliffe Village, County Durham.

George Bush Junior was finally elected the 43rd President of the United States after the closest and most chaotic election ever.