Barren and bereft – the beach left without its sand

said on Twitter: “Where has our sandy beach gone? Usually Whitley Bay has miles of golden sand but this week the storms have exposed all of the rocks and dragged up debris so it looks incredibly different.”

And a Whitley Bay resident said on Facebook: “Now that all the snow has gone, the beach looks really weird. Where’s all the sand?”

North Tyneside Council says a lot of the rubbish left behind has already been cleared away and its teams will continue working on the clean-up.

The authority also says the sand washed away by high tides will come back gradually.