A major incident has been declared after a water main burst during the heatwave with nearby schools forced to close.
A huge pipe erupted on Kingston Hill in south west London this morning with access to Kingston Hospital limited as a result.
Dramatic footage shows streets completely flooded with gushing brown, murky water making the roads impassible in some areas.
Around 70 firefighters are dealing with the burst water main in Kingston-upon-Thames and first rushed to the scene at 8.47am.
The Met Police were also called and have shut a number of surrounding roads and urged the public to stay away from the area.
One concerned resident told LBC: “Kingston Hill is not supposed to be a river! Think the Thames Water contractors just up the road got something a bit wrong. Hope they get it sorted quickly as it will not be a good day to be without water!”
Another posted a photo on Twitter that initially looked like a bag of poo being carried down the street by the flooding, although he later clarified that it was more likely that the hill was being washed away instead.
One resident said she was stranded near the pub after dropping off her kids on the school run with the muddy water covering the nearby roads.
Many locals there hope the issue is resolved quickly and they aren't left without water for long periods of time given the severe heat.
It comes as the UK basks in a scorching heatwave today, with some parts of the country potentially hitting temperatures of 40C, which would be a new UK record.
Most of England has been issued with the Met Office's first ever red weather warning today with temperatures set to be close to UK's record of 38.7C, set in Cambridge in 2019, before climbing further on Tuesday.
Brits have been warned that taps could run dry during the heatwave as suppliers struggle to cope with demand.
Thames Water, which serves Kingston, warned residents before the pipe burst to be "very careful" about their water usage during the hot weather.
Elsewhere, Yorkshire Water, recommended its customers to take four-minute showers to help try to limit disruptions.
Anglian, meanwhile, suggested to its four million customers to have five-minute showers, avoid washing their cars and "learn to love a brown lawn", while Severn Trent has requested for customers to turn the taps off when they brush their teeth.
And on Sunday, residents in Norfolk were stranded without water for more than 30 hours following a burst pipe, which resulted in families joining long queues to get supplies from water collection points.
