THE 17th Sunderland Airshow went ahead yesterday despite rain and cloud forcing the organisers to cancel their flying programme on Saturday.

The weather put a damper on several events across the region over the weekend, but Europe's biggest free airshow faced the prospect of losing its entire flying programme.

But yesterday the weather lifted and four hours of flying went ahead as planned, drawing what the organisers estimate was the biggest crowd on one day that they have had.

Attractions included the Red Arrows display team, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the Eurofighter Typhoon, the RAF Falcons parachute team and a Royal Navy Harrier T8.

The event usually attracts thousands of people, many from outside the region.

But on Saturday, many people, particularly from within the region, stayed away from Seaburn seafront because of the poor conditions.

Yesterday proved to be brighter and there was a much bigger turnout - an estimated 500,000 people - and there were long traffic queues and big demand for the park-and-ride bus service set up for the event.

For those that braved the rain on Saturday, there were still plenty of attractions on the ground to do and see, including the Discovery Channel American UK Tour, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and demonstrations by commandos and the Royal Navy PT team.

Airshow director Peter Chapman said yesterday: "It's been a weekend of contrasts. Those people who didn't come along on Saturday came along in their thousands today and we are delighted to have had such a bumper crowd."

The three-day Gateshead Summer Flower Show, one of the region's leading floral events, reported attendances slightly down because of the weather on Friday and Saturday.

But Debbie Ross, of Gateshead Council's events team, said that better weather yesterday brought the crowds out and up to 20,000 people passed through the gates during the weekend.

Not all of the weekend's activities could be salvaged. Several events were cancelled across the region on Saturday as rain kept spectators away and put health and safety at risk.

The North-East cricket programme, consisting of scores of matches, was called off, with not one game played.

The finale to the Darlington Festival - a free music show in the town's Market Square on Saturday night, which was to feature the newly re-formed girl band Bananarama - was cancelled.

Sponsorship manager for Darlington Borough Council Michelle Parkes said: "It was a huge disappointment."

In Redcar, Yorkshire Day celebrations persevered around the High Street, Esplanade and sports and leisure venues as best as possible, with stilt-walkers, bands, and face painting.