A family had a lucky escape when lightning struck their home causing severe damage to a bedroom.

Steve and Amanda Dickenson told today how they cheated death by two hours when the thunderbolt struck their detached house at Newthorpe, near Sherburn-in-Elmet.

"There was a big roll of thunder and a very, very loud bang. The chimney had disappeared and there was smoke coming out of the roof, " said Amanda, 37.

"My husband rushed inside to get our three-year-old son, Jake. The chimney had come straight through the roof and landed on the bed. Two hours later we would have been in it."

The house was struck by lightning four years ago.

"You don't think it's going to happen to you again," said Amanda.

Lightning struck at about 8.30pm last night, leaving a gaping hole in the roof and widespread structural damage. The strike shorted all the electrics and blew all the fuses.

Meanwhile, two British Midland flights carrying a total of 64 passengers from Glasgow and Edinburgh were struck on their way to Leeds/Bradford airport.

One of the captains had to extend his flight to check instruments and equipment before he was sure he would be safe to land.

Northern Electric reported isolated problems with supply around the county after the storms.

Today, a spokeswoman for the PA Weather Centre said the stormy weather was set to continue into the weekend, clearing up on Sunday.

Captain Nights, the pilot of the British Midland plane, flight BD406 from Edinburgh, was today praised for his actions in landing his plane safely after the lightning strike, which could be felt by the passengers on board.

A spokeswoman for British Midland said: "After the strike some indication lights came on in the flight deck which caused the captain to extend his flight route so he could check his systems. Everything was fine but he did call an emergency."

A spokeswoman for the PA Weather Centre said yesterday's thunderstorm was not unusual at this time of year and was caused by an occluded front coming up from the south west. She said: "Over the next few days there are going to be more thunder storms and outbreaks of rain and heavy showers but it will become drier on Sunday."

Updated: 11:53 Friday, June 15, 2001