Wallington Flash Floods In London Caused By Torrential Rain Submerge High Street

• Two metres of water submerges three cars in minutes
• One driver rescued from his car on Wallington High St
• London fire crews called to multiple lightning strikes
• Father and two children injured after lightning strike at school
• Train company warns of delays after trains had to run at slow speed

Torrential rain and thundery showers have brought an abrupt end to Britain’s all too brief sunny spell, raining so heavily it submerged cars in minutes and lightning strikes causing fires.

UPDATE: Father and son fighting for their lives after being struck by lightning at school sports day.

And if these pictures are anything to go by it’s time to start building an ark.

South London was worst hit with three cars becoming completely submerged under a bridge on Wallington High St, with the downpour causing depths of up to two metres in just minutes.

Two drivers were able to reach safety themselves and a third had to be rescued by fire crews.

London Fire Brigade was called out at 2.26pm to attend the flash flood.

Further calls were made after a person became trapped in a car in Coulsdon and in Croydon smoke was reported coming from a building after a lighting strike.

Firefighters rushed to a fire caused by lightning in North London, reporting they were making "steady progress" in getting it under control.

A lighting strike at a Northern Ireland school reportedly left a father and his two young children critically ill in hospital after being struck during a school sports day event.

According to MailOnline, the man and his son, five, and daughter, seven, were struck at Lisburn in Co Antrim, around 2pm.

The three are reportedly being treated for severe burns at a hospital in Belfast. The father and son are said to be "critically ill" while the daughter is in a "serious" condition.

A lightning strike at Luton Airport also caused big delays as the system for processing people entering the country crashed, creating a huge queue.

The weather caused a knock-on effect to transport services, just ahead of rush hour.

As of 3pm Southern Railway had reported that all lines were blocked after flooding between Caterham and Purley. Thirty minutes later the Caterham to Purley line had reopened and passengers are encouraged to check the website before attempting to travel.

The rail company later said all lines had reopened but there would be "residual delays" after trains were forced to go slow or cancelled.

The sudden storms cap a spate of bright sunshine with the mercury hitting a high of 27C on Monday.

As of Tuesday, two yellow warnings for rain have been issued by the Met Office.

Met Office forecaster Alex Burkill said the “very warm conditions across the country” are allowing showers, thunder and hail to develop.

He added: “The first warning covers eastern Northern Ireland across north-west and central Wales, through to the Midlands to south-eastern England.

“The second covers parts of northern England and into central and southern Scotland.

“Across those areas we could see some torrential downpours, hail and thunder are quite likely too.”

Covering most of the afternoon and evening on Tuesday, forecasters (somewhat under) estimated at least 20mm of rain could fall in an hour across some parts, causing possible localised flooding, surface water flooding and travel disruption.

Despite the rain, temperatures will still be warm, with 27C expected in the London area and 25C in parts of central Scotland.

Mr Burkill said: “Through the week we will start to see things breaking down from the west - what that means is it is going to start to turn cooler and with that the number of showers will decrease.

“Wednesday and Thursday will be fine days and still pleasantly warm, with the number of showers dropping.

“But by Friday and the weekend that is when it will turn a little bit more unsettled and quite a bit cooler too, with temperatures around average for the time of year.

“As bands of showers push their way from west to east, it will be quite a marked change from the last weekend where we had the fine and sunny weather.”