British summer washout sees cars submerged in streets after heavy rain

Mar 21, 2024

A woman has spoken of how she was forced to write off her car after flash flooding resulted in her vehicle being completely submerged in water overnight amid heavy downpours

Dramatic scenes of flash flooding have been seen along residential roads in the UK after torrential rain.

One woman revealed she had been forced to write off her car after it was submerged in water as the 'washout summer' continues, with high winds and Thunderstorms rolling across many parts of the country yesterday. Disaster struck Lisa Harding from the town of Coningsby while she stayed at the Mercure Kenwood Hall Hotel in Sheffield on Wednesday, where she had planned to take her parents for a trip to the Peak District.

But after hours of heavy rain and an unfortunate parking situation overnight, the photojournalist walked out into the car park in the morning to find her 'brand new' Renault sitting in a large amount of water - causing it to seep into the gearbox.

Sharing her ordeal on Twitter, she wrote: "So there it is. My car written off due to water in the electric gearbox. £22k car bought from brand new, my first brand new car and it’s gone over night and written off. No help from hotel Mercure Sheffield and offered free dinner and a spa treatment as compensation. Have to rely on a friend to drive me home tomorrow. Holiday ruined and lost my car. Absolutely devastated."

Elsewhere, sudden bursts of heavy rain saw drains blocked and roads flooded at short notice, causing disruption following a wave of weather warnings. Heavy showers and thunderstorms are set to lash the nation until the end of the week after parts of the country saw flooding.

Between 25 to 30mm of rain fell across parts of the north east of England on Wednesday, while areas in London saw around 20mm, the Met Office said. Meanwhile, the south coast was battered with 45 to 50mph winds, as the Needles on the Isle of Wight saw 60mph gusts.

Around one square mile in Wembley, north west London, was left under one-metre-deep flood water, with firefighters called to rescue a man from a van and evacuate 19 people. Some train services were also affected across the country. However, despite most of the wet weather clearing away overnight, there will still be patches of rain and thunderstorms until the end of the week, becoming heavier over the weekend.

Amy Bokota, a Met Office forecaster, said: “Thursday’s going to be quite a grey day and quite breezy as well, but winds are not expected to be as strong and with that there will be some showers, which could be heavy at times.

“There’s not expected to be any impacts or warnings on the back of that, there could be up to five to 10mm of rainfall in an hour, and maybe 20 to 25mm over a couple of hours if rain becomes persistent in places.

“But generally it’s going to be a lot better, most places a little bit brighter and those showers will be less widespread. Heading into Friday, areas in the south-west will see an improvement, parts of Cornwall and Wales will see a decent day with sunny spells, although along the east coast there will be a risk of showers and the odd rumble of thunder too.

“In the evening a low pressure system will start to show it’s cards in Northern Ireland before it’s all change on Saturday, turning much wetter and windier across many parts of the country.”

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