Trains halted by deluge

Trains in the south London area were brought to a standstill last night and hundreds of homes were under threat of flooding after a freak rainstorm.

The fire brigade was inundated with hundreds of calls after the equivalent of a month's rain fell in just a few hours. Passengers were stranded on trains passing through the Croydon area, while others were left on platforms for hours as the rain caused signal problems.

The storms were caused by a convergence of air from the North Sea and the English Channel, weather forecasters said. A spokesman added: "The two sea breezes met right over London and south London really got hit. Other parts of the capital and surrounding counties are dry as a bone."