Those who died in one of the worst storms in the nation's history will be remembered on the event's 60th anniversary today.
The exact death toll in the great maelstrom that swept the British Isles will never be known, but more than 2000 lives were lost in one of the worst natural disasters to hit Europe.
In the House of Commons, prime minister Winston Churchill referred to "the unprecedented violence of the sea on the night of January 31 to February 1, 1953".
Stranraer will remember the ferry MV Princess Victoria, one of the first roll-on-roll-off ferries, which left the Wigtownshire port at 7.45am heading for Larne in Northern Ireland with 123 passengers and a crew of 49 on board.
Amid winds of more than 80mph, the order was given to abandon ship, and 133 people drowned.
There will be a gathering at the Princess Victoria memorial at Stranraer's Agnew Park, followed by a service in the Town Kirk.
Councillor Roberta Tuckfield, chairwoman of Wigtown Area Committee, said: "Sixty years after the tragic loss of the MV Princess Victoria, we remember those who died, pay our tributes, and offer heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved.
"We remember the valiant efforts of the crew and their fellow seafarers, who risked and in some cases sacrificed their own lives to save others.
"For those who lost loved ones, whether a partner, a parent, a son or a daughter, the consequences are still all too obvious to this day."
A Court of Inquiry into the sinking, held in March 1953 in Belfast, found the loss of the Princess Victoria was due to her unseaworthy condition.
Elsewhere, storms and resulting flooding claimed the lives of 307 people in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.
Some 28 people died in Belgium, but the Netherlands was worst affected with 1836 lives being lost.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article