High winds and heavy rain caused disruption when stormy weather battered the district as people returned to work for the first day after the New Year break.

Flights were delayed at Leeds Bradford Airport due to the winds, which reached up to 80mph in parts of the region, and forced a road to be closed after a chimney became unstable.

Meanwhile, the district saw flood alerts from the Environment Agency on two of its rivers, after an estimated 100ml of rain fell in the last four days.

At Leeds Bradford Airport, heavy winds left a number of outbound flights delayed throughout yesterday morning by an average of 30 minutes.

An airport spokesman said flights to Aberdeen, Faro, Gdansk and Dublin had all been affected. An inbound flight from the Isle of Man however was delayed for four hours due to winds on the island.

The airport spokesman however said the airport had not received any more wind warnings yesterday.

Police were called to Lodge Hill, in Addingham, at 9.30am after a call from the fire brigade warning a chimney had become unstable.

A police spokesman said: “Due to concerns for the safety of road users, we moved the cars parked in the area and closed the road.”

The road was reopened about two hours later after the owner of the building was informed.

Officers were also called to flooding at the junction of Denton Road and Carters Lane after water flowed across fields when the River Wharfe burst its banks.

Meanwhile, about 1,500 properties in Steeton were left without gas after high winds damaged supply equipment. The roof was blown off a kiosk in Thornhill Road leaving the device inside, known as a gas governor, damaged.

The system automatically shut down to stop gas escaping.

Northern Gas Networks set-up a customer drop-in centre at the Sailors and Soldiers Club in High Street, where heaters and hot plates are available for collection.

Company spokeswoman Gwen Allen said: “We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused and reassure customers that teams of engineers are on site assessing the situation and working hard to get things back to normal as quickly and safely as possible.”

Flood alerts were in place for parts of the Bradford district following heavy downpours early yesterday.

The Environment Agency warned flooding was possible along parts of the River Aire between Gargrave and Stockbridge as water levels rose. Flooding of low-lying areas, including the Skipton Washlands, is likely.

A flood alert has also been issued for the River Calder, which runs through Brighouse.

Nick Prebble, forecaster for the MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said gusts of more than 80mph could have hit parts of the district in the morning.