Air traffic to and from New York has been disrupted as Hurricane Irene brought rain and strong winds up the east coast of the US. The authorities are continuing to monitor the situation but have said it is unlikely that services will resume before later on Monday. Irene has now been given the status of tropical storm, but there is still the chance of flooding in some areas.

British Airways cancelled a number of flights to New York and said it remained in contact with airport authorities and would start flying again when it was sure it was safe to do so. The Port Authority in New York also said that flights were unlikely to begin properly until Monday afternoon.

BA said customers who had flights cancelled would be entitled to a full refund on their tickets. It added that anyone with a ticket dated to 30 August would be allowed to change their flight time to a later date. BA asked all of its customers to check with the airline before setting out for the airport.

According to Virgin Atlantic’s website, the storm has passed New York and the airports are now assessing any damage that may have occurred. Virgin has also requested that passengers’ double check with the airline before making a journey to the airport.

Continental and United are also assessing the situation in New York and said they hoped to have passengers up in the air again at some point on Monday depending on access and facility conditions at the airports.