Flooding in London causes mass disruption to rush hour

Several rail routes in the capital have been disrupted this morning due to heavy rain causing flooding.

Severe delays have been experiences on the Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern, Southeastern, South Western, Great Western, London Overground and Thameslink services due to flooding on the tracks.

Many TfL services have also been impacted, causing chaos for the capital’s commuters. The current TfL service update is:

Bakerloo Line: No service between Queen’s Park and Harrow & Wealdstone due to a signal failure at Harlesden.

District Line: No service between Earl’s Court and Richmond / Ealing Broadway due to a signal failure caused by flooding at Richmond and Acton Town.

Elizabeth Line: Severe delays between Liverpool Street and Shenfield while the service recovers from a late finish of engineering work

London Overground: No service between Surrey Quays and Clapham Junction due to signal failures at West Croydon and Wandsworth Road.

Piccadilly Line: Severe delays between Acton Town and Uxbridge while we fix a signal failure caused by flooding at Acton Town. MINOR DELAYS between Acton Town and Arnos Grove

London Tramlink: Minor delays due to a shortage of Trams.

Current updates can be found on the TfL website.

This follows a disruption last night at Finchley Road station, as rain caused flooding to the entrance, causing trouble over rush hour.

The London Fire Brigade, who are dealing with flooding across the capital, has released a warning to people not to attempt to drive or walk through the water.

Passengers have been told that tickets for affected services will be accepted on Transport for London buses.

Passengers abandoning the train and choosing to drive in are not having a happier time of it, as sections of the M25, the A41 and A1 in north London are also blocked.

Warnings for torrential rain and howling winds are in force for much of the UK, before temperatures are set to plunge to as low as minus two tonight. The fierce conditions are set to continue through today and overnight, with weather experts warning to expect flooding across the south east.

The picture is not much better elsewhere in the country, with Scotland facing howling gales and heavy rain, and Sussex beset with falling trees causing further travel chaos.  Some respite is expected by the weekend, with bright spells peeking through, but that is unlikely to be of much comfort to commuters, facing a couple of very uncomfortable days travelling.

Image credit: PA

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