Travel chaos across Britain as storms cause severe flooding and misery for millions

BRITAIN was plunged into chaos yesterday after torrential rain, thunder and lightning storms caused rivers to burst their banks, travel disruption and flooded polling stations.

Voters in the capital and the south east of England had to battle flooded roads and streets to have their say in the EU referendum.

Two polling stations in Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey had to be moved to other locations after heavy rain overnight caused severe flooding in the area.

The first voters to turn up to their local polling station in Devon Way, Chessington, Surrey, could only vote after wading through giant puddles.

The council then intervened and moved the polling station, along with another in a community hall in Malden Manor, to different locations after the rain continued during the morning.

The London fire service was forced to appeal for people to only dial 999 “where there is a risk to life or property” due to an unprecedented number of calls.

The fire service received two days worth of weather-related emergency calls between 1.30am and 6.30am alone on Thursday morning.

Crews had attended more than 400 incidents by 10am, including homes hit by lightning and flooded properties.

Commuters in the capital faced severe travel disruption after waking up to flooded Tube stations - forcing Transport For London to close many services.

Rail services were also disturbed due to the mass amount of rain and this had a knock on effect on rush-hour across the the south east.

Fraught workers in London were forced to cram onto crowded, alternative transport or fork out for Uber taxis - some of which were operating a surge in price of four-times the normal fare, due to the demand.

The adverse weather has also made it treacherous for some voters to reach polling stations as they brave the rain to vote in the EU referendum.

Almost half the average rainfall for June - 20.5mm - fell in just an hour in Bexley, south east London on Wednesday night and in the south east the sky was lit up with lightning, with people being woken up by booming thunderstorms.

Weather experts said there were more than 6,000 lightning strikes over the south east of England on Wednesday night.

The River Rom burst its banks due to the rain, causing 60 homes and businesses in east London to be affected by up to 1m of water.

And the Environment Agency issued four flood warnings covering rivers in Bromley, Sidcup and Basildon, and 22 flood alerts across the south east.

In Romford, Essex fire crews battled muddy water up to their waists as they attempted to rescue stranded residents in boats yesterday.

And although the storm missed Glastonbury in Somerset, festival-goers are still facing huge queues as thousands of people continue to arrive and block up the roads, while organisers try to tackle the huge amount of mud affecting the campsite.

Road users on Thursday were also forced to endure huge queues as a knock on effect of the flash floods.

RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: “We have seen a massive uplift in calls for help, with hundreds of extra breakdowns in London, Kent and East Anglia as motorists suffer the consequences of flash floods and the knock-on traffic delays.

“Alternative routes have become badly affected by the sheer volume of vehicles as drivers try to avoid the jams, and sadly this has led to yet more breakdowns.”

It is believed that cases being heard at Snaresbrook Crown Court in north east London were delayed after the heavy rain caused ceiling tiles to collapse inside some of the court rooms and corridors.

A source said: “All of our hearings have been very much delayed in their progress. We are dealing with it as best we can. The surrounding roads are flooded and a juror has been stuck in traffic for four hours.”

The Met Office issued a yellow ‘be aware’ warning for rain in the south east until the early hours of Thursday morning.

Forecaster Luke Miall from the Met Office said: “If you draw a line from The Wash to the Isle of Portland everything east of that is in the firing line.

“A band of showers is coming across the English Channel and moving north-eastwards, that will bring some heavy downpours and localised surface flooding. There’s going to be a bit of hail in there too, so there’s quite a lot going on.

“If you’re in the south east, you definitely need your umbrella and possibly a pair of Wellington boots.”

The Met Office has forecast more rain for today and the weekend - although it won’t be as heavy as the severe downpours of the last 48 hours.

A spokesman for the Met Office explained: “At the moment we have an area of low pressure over France dragging warm, humid air, which has allowed for those very heavy and thundery downpours.

“But as we go through Friday and into Saturday we have an area of low pressure from the Atlantic bringing slightly fresher conditions and as a result, the showers, while fairly widespread, aren’t going to be as heavy or as intense.”

Temperatures are going to stay warm with highs of 23C today in London and high teens pushing early twenties across the rest of the UK.

Showers are predicted for much of the UK today, but the south east should finally remain fairly dry.

The rain will return to the south east over the weekend and there still could be some thunder and particularly heavy showers towards Scotland and Northern Ireland.

But weather experts predict some sunny spells across much of the UK this weekend, with temperatures hovering around 21C for much of Britain.