London Storms Trigger 400 Fire Calls and 2 House Fires as Flooding Disrupts Heathrow
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 23
London Storms Trigger 400 Fire Calls and 2 House Fires as Flooding Disrupts Heathrow
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 23
Summary
London Fire Brigade handled about 400 calls after overnight rainstorms and lightning flooded homes and roads and damaged two houses in lightning-strike fires.
Twickenham and Richmond were among the hardest-hit areas, prompting the brigade to activate a high-volume call procedure and briefly reroute surplus 999 calls to other control rooms under Operation Willow Beck.
Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 and Terminal 4 saw disruption from flooding, while the Elizabeth line, Heathrow Express, Tramlink services and Balham station later returned to normal or reopened.
Tooting and Enfield houses suffered roof damage but no injuries were reported; across southern England, storms followed roughly 29,000 lightning strikes overnight.
The damage came just before a rare Met Office red alert takes effect Wednesday, with England bracing for temperatures of up to 40C.