London was battered by heavy rain overnight on Wednesday and into Thursday morning - but a drier couple of days is in store for the capital, says the Met Office.
Flooding caused havoc for train passengers on Wednesday night - preventing some Underground services from stopping at Victoria Station, due to flooding on a platform, while the Gatwick Express could not run between Gatwick Airport and Brighton.
On Thursday, the Piccadilly line was partly suspended between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge due to “significant leaf fall”, while flooding was said to be affecting trains in Kent, Essex and Sussex.
Footage captured at around 9am showed cars driving slowly across London’s famous Tower Bridge, which was covered in several centimetres of water.
When people paying expensive government and tax everywhere, there is no room and its unacceptable for inefficiency. Why there is like flooding here in a famous landmark of UK? 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️ #UKtax #CostofLivingCrisis #London @RishiSunak @MayorofLondon #TowerBridge #Londoner @TowerBridge pic.twitter.com/4XhP8Uop6j
— PB (@pb_ong) November 17, 2022
Yellow weather warnings were in place for large swathes of northern England on Thursday, as a band of rain which arrived in Cornwall travelled across the country before passing over Scotland’s east coast on Friday.
Conditions are due to be “atrocious” for much of the UK while the Scottish highlands could see some snow, the Met Office said.
But London has not been included in the weather warnings, and wet conditions are expected to clear up in the capital late on Thursday morning.
A Met Office spokesman told the Standard: “The heavy rain which has affected London overnight will be moving into the North Sea, bringing clearer conditions in its wake.
“These conditions will largely persist until Sunday when further heavy showers can be expected. Until Sunday there may be occasional showers affecting London, but these aren’t likely to be significant.
⚠️ Delays between #Worthing and #Arundel ⚠️
— PC Tom Van Der Wee (@PCTomVanDerWee) November 16, 2022
We’ve got the westbound carriageway of the #A27 closed at the junction of the #A280 due to a large flood and collision. Motorists are able leave the A27 and immediately rejoin however traffic is heavy in the area. pic.twitter.com/kWdrX27pu9
“There is likely to be further rain in the forecast for next week, but some of the certainty associated with this is low at the current time.”
In West Sussex meanwhile, the M23 was closed southbound on Thursday between junction 10 at Crawley and junction 11 as Pease Pottage, due to flooding. National Highways warned of delays, and said it was on the scene trying to clear the carriageway.
The A27 was also closed in both directions between Emsworth and Chichester on Thursday - after heavy rain left up to 20 cars stuck in flood water, according to West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.
The service posted on Twitter: “Police on the scene and the road closed in both directions. We are attending with specialist equipment to help bring people to safety. AVOID THE AREA and only travel if necessary.”
Some rail lines were impacted on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, with disruption between Tonbridge and Hasting caused by flooding in a tunnel at Wadhurst in East Sussex.
National Rail said it had rectified a fault in the tunnel involving a blown fuse and a melted piece of signalling equipment, with disruption on the line until at least 6am.
******Tree Down*****
— @WinchesterCops (@WinchesterCops) November 16, 2022
A very large triple trunk tree is currently blocking the highway on Gravel Hill, Swanmore. Please avoid this route.
This has been reported to Hampshire Highways #PCSOMcCulloch #WinchesterGreater pic.twitter.com/89cwqc9X9C
On the Isle of Wight, flooding has caused the cancellation of trains on the Island Line until 9am.
And motorists were being warned by travel service Romanse of “heavy delays” around the A27 and A3M near Havant, Hampshire, because of flooding caused by the rain.
Police in Winchester, Hampshire, have also advised of a large tree coming down and blocking a road in Swanmore.
