I spent 8 hours & £1k on Argos & B&Q buys to give my home a festive makeover but Storm Darragh has ruined it, I’m gutted
Watch the below clip to see the damage Storm Darragh caused to Harvey's display
A MAN has revealed that he spent £1,000 and took eight hours of his time to give his home a festive makeover.
But now, Harvey Wallace, who is from Shropshire, UK, has been left gutted, after Storm Darragh wreaked havoc with his Argos and B&Q display.
Clearly very upset, Harvey took to social media to share his frustrations, leaving many open-mouthed.
Posting on , a public Facebook group with 608,600 members, Harvey shared a snap of his once stunning Christmas display, complete with lights, wreaths, a reindeer and three huge lit-up trees.
However, he also shared images and a video of the damage caused by Storm Darragh – a rare red weather warning for strong winds, which have not only battered the UK but have even been fatal.
Harvey cried: “There goes the outdoor display.”
Alongside a crying emoji, he added: “Bear in mind everything was fully zip tied and floor pegged down.
“This storm has still somehow managed to ruin everything and snap all the lights.
“Such a shame after spending eight hours doing it all.”
Not only have Harvey’s lights been broken, but his trees have fallen down on the pavement too.
Harvey tried to look on the bright side of things, but opened up to Fabulous about the effort he put in to light up his home for the festive season.
He told Fabulous: “We’ve built up a few items over the past couple of years adding to the collection of decorations.
“I would say we’ve spent around £1,000 roughly.”
He explained that he nabbed three eight foot trees, an archway garland and five smaller garlands, all from B&Q.
This storm has still somehow managed to ruin everything and snap all the lights
Harvey Wallace
He also bought two wreaths from a local garden centre and purchased his large reindeer from The Range.
He splashed the cash on 4,000 lights from Tesco, also nabbed a pack of icicle lights from B&Q and even stocked up on 1,000 lights from Argos.
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Gutted at the damage caused by the rain, Harvey penned: “Well that’s our Christmas ruined.”
Social media users react
Social media users were stunned by the damage caused and flocked to the comments to express their sympathy.
One person said: “Oh no. It looked beautiful as well.”
I wasn’t asking for sympathy and I totally get that there are many different issues in the world that are occurring at the moment
Harvey Wallace
Another added: “Terrible, has to be the worst yet.”
A third commented: “This is awful, such a shame.”
That’s such a shame, I was going to decorate outside today but obviously not now the storms here
Facebook user
At the same time, one angry woman penned: “So fed up with this weather. It spoils everything.”
Whilst someone else chimed in: “Oh that’s such a shame, I was going to decorate outside today but obviously not now the storms here.”
Harvey later penned: “Fortunately, some things will be fixable but others aren’t.
“1,000 lights on each tree isn’t a cheap replacement.
“I think the large reindeer is possibly broken too.”
Why do shops start selling Christmas stock so early?
Charlotte Harrington, the manager at Summerhill’s garden centre in Basildon, Essex, explained: “For many, many years now, we’ve opened our Christmas department on the August bank holiday.
“The stock comes in early and we gradually start putting it out on the shop floor. This is just a small fraction of what we have.
“But our Christmas displays are so spectacular it takes time to get everything set up, so we have to start early.
“It may seem a little odd putting them out now — especially with the hot weather.
“But we have to plan so far in advance.”
He also added: “We were told it would be mild here but unfortunately they were wrong.
“If we knew it was going to be this bad then we would’ve taken [them] down instantly, even though they took me over eight hours to put up.
“It’s absolutely horrendous, the wind blowing is treacherous.
“Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be able to salvage some items, can’t bear this wind.”
Not only this, but Harvey further claimed: “I wasn’t asking for sympathy and I totally get that there are many different issues in the world that are occurring at the moment.
“I was just simply sharing my experience of how our decorations have held up during this terrible weather.”
