A storming end to the heatwave

Flood havoc as month’s rain falls in an hour

FLASH floods brought chaos to the UK yesterday with torrential downpours confirming the end of the heatwave.

Violent thunderstorms unleashed over a month’s rain in an hour in parts of London, Hertfordshire and Kent in the afternoon.

More than ten Tube and other stations were forced to close and major disruption hit buses as lightning strikes zapped the city, including The Shard skyscraper at London Bridge.

Homes flooded in Leytonstone, east London and manholes burst open as drains overflowed, with reports of sewage water entering buses carrying passengers.

Traveller Chris Date said water was up to his shins as he boarded a bus in Walthamstow, east London.

He tweeted: ‘It’s impossible to walk on the pavement. To get on that bus the water came up to my shins. This is a canal, not a road.’

The chaos came after the Met Office issued an amber weather warning for London predicting up to 100mm of rain within a few hours. The average monthly rainfall in July is 44.5mm.

The Environment Agency said some areas around the capital saw more than 50mm yesterday afternoon. Private meters registered over 40mm in a single hour.

It was the second time in under two weeks that flash floods brought chaos to parts of the UK. Steven Keates, of the Met Office, said: ‘For the second time in less than a month we have seen a slowmoving narrow band of intense rainfall that is self-perpetuating.’

He added: ‘The interesting thing is how close together these events were. It’s quite unusual.’ The torrential rain came after last week’s blistering temperatures when 32.2C (90F) was recorded at Heathrow on Tuesday.

Forecasters said downpours are set to continue this week with chances of thunderstorms across the country.

Today is expected to be largely dry with some sunny spells before scattered showers and storms roll in. The worst weather is expected on Wednesday before fairer conditions arrive on Friday.