Heavy downpours lead to flooding and transport disruption

Heavy rainfall has led to travel disruption in parts of the South East of England.

Some train and underground services were hit by cancellations and delays due to the torrential downpours which saw parts of London endure more than half a month’s worth of rainfall in one night.

The Met Office had warned that spray and flooding on roads could lengthen journey times, while flooding of homes and businesses was possible amid overnight heavy rain into Thursday.

A yellow weather warning for rain, covering the south of England from Portsmouth to Canterbury and parts of London, remains in place until 3pm on Thursday.

The Met Office said the top rainfall totals recorded in the 12 hours from 9pm on Wednesday until 8am on Thursday were at Kew Gardens in west London, where 42.2mm fell, and Odiham in Hampshire, where 40.2mm fell.

The weather service said the average rainfall for the entire month of November in Greater London is 69.3mm and in Hampshire is 104.65mm.

Commuters faced issues with rush-hour transport due to the wet weather.

Transport for London (TfL) said there were severe delays between Stratford and Richmond/Clapham Junction caused by flooding, while a signal failure caused by flooding at Richmond and Acton Town led to no District Line service between Earl’s Court and Richmond/Ealing Broadway.

South Western Railway said that flooding had blocked lines between Fulwell and Hampton, leading to cancellations and delays.

Kent County Council warned people to “be careful out there” after it had multiple reports of weather-related issues across its road network due to “strong winds and heavy rain”.