Storms in London leave cars in South London submerged in two metres of water with rush hour delays on way for Southern Railway
Stormy weather in London this afternoon has led to flash flooding in the south east of the city, leading to floods and causing travel disruption in the area.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) was called out to attend a number of flooding and lightning strike calls in Wallington, Mitcham and Croydon this afternoon.
Meanwhile, the London Ambulance Service was called out to attend a flood in Wallington which saw a number of cars become submerged in up to two metres of rainwater.
A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called at 2.42pm to reports of a person in distress due to a flash flood incident on Manor Road, Wallington. We sent an ambulance crew and a single responder by car to the scene, arriving in three minutes.
“We checked over a man at the scene but he was not taken to hospital.”
This video from Twitter user Andrew Murphy shows the vehicles under rainwater beneath the railway bridge:
Crazy scenes in #Wallington! Touch wet…☔️ guy had to brick his car to get out!! pic.twitter.com/EGS7QT8Ym3
— Andrew Murphy (@murphyamm) June 7, 2016
The LFB tweeted the following picture of the incident:
We're attending a number of flash flooding & lightning strike calls in #Wallington, #Mitcham & #Croydon ©PaulJolly pic.twitter.com/GPZmrEABsc
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) June 7, 2016
Another twitter user said there was no access to the station in Wallington as a result of the flooding:
No access at #wallington #station. Two cars submerged in about 15ft water. Avoid area.
— El Nido – Wallington (@ElNidoSurrey) June 7, 2016
The rain has also caused flash flooding in Mitcham.
The fire brigade was also called out when a tree in Wallington was set alight by a lightning strike.
Several homes in the south east of the capital have been struck by lightning, with some roof and electricals damage caused.
An LFB spokesman said the service was dealing with an increased number of calls since the storms began.
Travel disruption
Meanwhile, Southern Rail was forced to close the line between Purley and Caterham due to flooding, and said disruption was set to continue until 5pm.
The rail company also said flooding between Tonbridge and Redhill was disrupting trains between those stations, and added that trains may be cancelled or delayed by up to 15 minutes. Disruption on the line is expected to continue until 4.30pm.