Torrential downpours and strong winds caused floods in London and the South East as a storm Aurore hit.
Heavy rain fell on Wednesday night and into the early hours of Thursday, prompting the Met Office to issue 51 flood warnings.
Roads and rail lines across the South East were disrupted by the storm.
Thameslink services towards London did not stop at Northfleet due to the flooding at the station. The service resumed on Thursday morning.
⚠️ Due to flooding at Northfleet, we will not be calling at this station in the direction of London until further notice.
Please be aware that this will affect Thameslink and @Se_Railway services.
ℹ️ Please use Gravesend or Swanscombe as an alternative this morning.
— Thameslink (@TLRailUK) October 21, 2021
Reports on social media showed heavy flooding on the A41 Hendon Way by Brent Cross on Thursday night.
Public Safety Information UK, London, Brent Cross!
Massive flood just outside of Tesco, Brent Cross at the A41 Hendon Way! Flood can potentially cause accidents due to low visibility. There is in fact an accident already on the spot. No road safety in the area! Drive safely! pic.twitter.com/4Xlo1DEyfH
— Krisztian Boszormeny (@BChristweet) October 20, 2021
The Met Office issued an amber weather warning across southern England and London on Wednesday night until 03:00 BST on Thursday, warning of “heavy and persistent rain”.
The warnings came as a low-pressure system named Storm Aurore moved in from France, bringing up to 50mm of rain and 45mph winds in the worst affected areas.
Forecasters said the most severe impact of the storm occurred over northern France.
Grahame Madge, a Met Office spokesman, said that areas including London, Kent and Surrey all had more than 30mm of rainfall while the warning was in place.
Mr Madge added: “We will have airflow coming from the north-west, which will bring showery conditions, although it shouldn’t deliver the quantity of rain we saw overnight on Thursday.
“We have not issued any weather warnings yet and we are not certain we will, but we will keep that under review.”
Thames Barrier closed
The flood warnings also coincided with the closure of the Thames Barrier on Thursday morning – the 200th time it’s closed since 1982.
The Environment Agency said they closed the barrier to protect London from a high tide, as a result of low pressure and northerly winds.
They plan to reopen the barrier at 18:00 this evening.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “While the barrier will help to protect London from tidal flooding, there are also risks from coastal flooding along the east coast on Thursday and Friday.
“Heavy rain also means that there is a separate but concurrent risk of river flooding across the South of England.”
The forecast for the rest of the week
The rain is expected to clear on Thursday with the forecast dry with plenty of sunshine in London.
Over the weekend it is forecasted to be mild and largely dry with some bright spells and patchy rain spreading on Sunday afternoon.
