London floods: Roads turn into rivers after ‘monsoon’ rain with more coming from Hurricane Nigel

Torrential rain across London left streets flooded with firefighters working tirelessly throughout Wednesday evening to respond to calls.

With heavy rain only set to get worse ahead of Hurricane Nigel, the Met Office has warned of potential flooding and the possibility of interruption to power supplies.

The London Fire Brigade received “numerous calls” over flooding as dramatic footage showed roads turning into rivers, with crews “working as quickly and as safely as they can” to provide assistance.

One social media user joked she “wasn’t sure whether to run or swim” around the streets of London, while another compared it to “monsoon weather” in Croydon.

The downpour comes as the tail end of Hurricane Lee prompted flood warnings in parts of England and Wales, with yellow weather warnings issued for heavy rain this week.

The latest warning, which was in place from 4pm on Wednesday until 3am on Thursday, said commuters faced potentially longer journeys with bus and train services affected, while “spray and flooding on roads probably making journey times longer”.

Some areas were to see 15 to 20mm of rainfall within an hour and up to 30 to 40mm over two to three hours.

Warnings of strong winds were also issued for western Scotland, with parts of the Highlands due to experience gusts of 50-60mph.

It comes as Nigel, a Category One hurricane, is due to impact the UK on Thursday and Friday as it continues to travel across the Atlantic Ocean.

Forecasters believe that Nigel has likely reached its peak intensity, and will start to weaken as it moves into cooler waters but will still bring “unsettled weather”.

While heavy showers are still expected to impact the UK, the Met Office said they are not expected to be as severe as those on Sunday, which caused more than 10,000 lightning strikes and saw Exeter Airport flooded.

Grahame Madge, Met Office spokesperson, said: “On Sunday, we will start to see the influence of ex-tropical Hurricane Nigel, which will be offshore in the mid-Atlantic.

“These systems have a long reach, it will increase rainfall rates and also winds to bring unsettled weather to the UK.

“It’s fair to say that it (Hurricane Lee) has brought more moisture with it, and also higher temperature air,” Mr Magde explained.

“When this air comes across us, it will deliver more in the way of rainfall than a normal system.”

Source: The Independent