‘Biblical’ rain pours down over London with flash floods and part of M25 blocked as Storm Claudio batters Britain

3 November 2022, 06:36 | Updated: 3 November 2022, 11:34

Road flooded in Paddington as London endures heavy rain

Londoners were left battling flash floods after hours of downpours, with travel chaos on the M25 as part of it was blocked due to heavy rain.

The Met Office issues yellow warnings of heavy showers and thunderstorms to parts of the UK warning of transport disruption and short-term loss of power

Earlier rush hour commuters faced flash floods on roads and on one section of the M25 two lanes were flooded, causing delays.

Traffic has built up on the M25 anti-clockwise near Junction 25. The A41 near Hendon way was blocked with traffic grinding to a standstill due to the flash floods. The A233 was also blocked due to a fallen tree.

There was also flooding on the North Circular road near the M11, causing major delays, and 'excessive flooding' at the A1 North Circular Road (Westbound) at the junction of the A598 Finchley Road.

49 flood alerts have been issued across much of central England, from Middlesbrough down to Cheltenham.

There are warnings of delays to road, rail air and ferry transport and the possibility of some short term power outages.

One Londoner wrote: "That was probably the wettest and worst conditions I've ever driven in overnight. Rain on an almost biblical level in London. Glad to be going home."

Another posted: "Now I see why we had the weather warning about rain in London, it's nearly 4:15am and it's still raining."

A third posted online: "London is finished, small rain & it's flooded roads everywhere."

Chief meteorologist Neil Armstrong said: "30 to 40mm of rain is expected to fall in some areas, and where it falls over ground already wet from recent rainfall as well as fallen leaves there may be spray and flooding on the roads as well as travel delays."

Meanwhile, a yellow warning for wind will be active from 7am until 10pm, with the conditions expected to affect Irish Sea coastal areas early before spreading to parts of northern England.

The Met Office warns delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport are likely while short-term loss of power is also a possibility.

Mr Armstrong added: "Much of the UK can expect a spell of strong southerly winds on Wednesday, but the warning area highlights where gusts of up to 65mph will be and therefore where there are likely to be some travel delays."

Eleven flood alerts and 10 flood warnings were in place across Scotland yesterday as Storm Claudio took hold.