THE North-East was put on flood alert yesterday as heavy rain and gale force winds gripped the region.

The stormy weather, with winds reaching up to 80mph, caused a number of road accidents and many rivers came close to bursting their banks.

The Environment Agency issued 16 flood warnings in the North-East and said that it would be closely monitoring the situation over the next few days.

Flood watches were put in place for the River Swale down to Catterick Village, the Ouse and Derwent in the Vale of York, and the Derwent at Stamford Bridge.

In York, the weather caused three road accidents during rush-hour, causing chaos for hundreds of commuters.

An articulated lorry was blown over on the A19, at the junction of the A64 at Fulford, and there were two crashes on the A64 at Grimston Bar.

High winds caused another lorry to overturn on the A1, near Boroughbridge.

A motorcyclist was admitted to York District Hospital with minor injuries after he was blown off his machine by the high winds.

In County Durham, the Newton Cap Viaduct on the A689 was closed to high-sided vehicles and caravans due to the high winds.

A 15-year-old from Middlesbrough was rushed to hospital suffering from head and internal injuries after the van he was travelling in hit a wall and overturned.

The Ford Transit was travelling east along the A67, about half a mile from Whorlton crossroads, near Barnard Castle, when it left the road and crashed into a wall before flipping over, at about 6.20am.

Although accident investigators have yet to establish the exact cause of the crash, it is believed the van may have hit a large patch of standing water caused by heavy rain.

In another accident, the driver of a Ford Fiesta suffered facial injuries when his car aquaplaned on surface water at Oakenshaw, near Willington, County Durham, just before 9am yesterday.

The River Wear was inches from breaking its banks outside Newtown House, Stanhope, a residential home for the elderly run by Durham County Council.

Forecasters are expecting the wintry weather to worsen towards the weekend with sleet and snow predicted