ELECTRICAL engineer Harry McCullagh and his wife Nicola are lucky to alive after their dream holiday turned into a nightmare.

As Hurricane Wilma swept relentlessly through the Mexican resort of Cancun, they were forced to flee from their luxury hotel.

The following nine days were the worst of their lives and involved them seeking refuge in a cramped shopping mall that lost its roof.

They also had to spend a night in a pitch black underground car park with 1,000 other tourists - many of whom broke into cars to sleep.

The couple, like everyone else, foraged for food in a nearby supermarket building that was split open during the ferocious storms.

Harry (43), who likened the sound of the storm against the shopping mall to a bomb going off, said: `It was the most frightening experience of my life.

'I think we are lucky no one was seriously injured and a fireman said to me we were lucky to be alive.` Nicola (29) said: `I was petrified. You don't experience anything like that in this country. Being in an enclosed space with noise and wind and no idea of what was going on around you was horrific and I never want to experience that again.` Harry is originally from Port Glasgow but now lives in Surrey with Nicola. They both work in terminal five at Heathrow Airport - Harry as senior supervisor of electrical engineering and Nicola as a recruitment manager.

Since returning to the UK on Friday Harry and Nicola have been staying with Harry's dad Stewart McCullagh in Northfield Avenue, Port Glasgow.

They will return home tomorrow.