London Fire Brigade has dealt with more than 400 weather-related incidents, external since the early hours of this morning, including rescuing 110 stranded residents in Romford, in the east of the city - many of them by boat. 

Terry Gooding is a flood adviser for the service - he told the BBC firefighters were well-prepared. 

Earlier we mentioned that Jake Buckley's birthday celebrations in Brentwood had been something of a damp squib after the family house became flooded in the early hours of this morning.

Jake, who is 17 today, says he hasn't yet opened his birthday cards and has instead been helping his dad Kirk with the clean-up operation.

Drivers are left stranded across Essex after attempting to drive through deep floodwater.

Heavy rain in the days leading up to Glastonbury Fetival have left muddy conditions for the revelers, even though the worst of the rain today has been elsewhere. 

Image source, AFP

Chris Flynn
BBC Essex

Jake Buckley, who is 17 today, had a bit of an unwelcome birthday surprise when he woke up this morning.

"My dad came in at 06:15 and said Happy Birthday - the house has flooded," Jake said.

His dad Kirk said the whole bottom floor of the house was covered by "two feet of water", and the flooding was "just down to the amount of rain that fell, just bad luck".

"All the water's going to keep coming down the hill, so we're going to keep pumping for the next few hours - and I hear there's more rain coming," Mr Buckley said.

As for the birthday boy- the celebrations have been put on hold: "I haven't opened cards or any of that yet," Jake said. "I was going to have my first driving lesson today, but I'm not sure I'll be able to do that now."

The BBC's Tomasz Schafernaker warns of further thundery downpours on Thursday evening.

Passengers travelling with operators such as Abellio Greater Anglia, Gatwick Express, Southern, South West Trains and Thameslink face delays and cancellations. 

Network Rail says it has 1,200 engineers working on weather-related issues across the network. 

A number of rivers in the South East region have hit their highest level on record over the past 24 hours. These include the River Rom, the River Wandle, Beverley Brook at Wimbledon, the River Shuttle at Bexley, River Ravensbourne at Bromley and the River Ingrebourne near Rainham, Essex. 

There continues to be a risk of flooding from smaller, fast-responding rivers in built-up areas, the Environment Agency says. 

Read more here, external.

A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group - which represents train operating companies and Network Rail - advises passengers travelling through affected areas that "services will be severely disrupted this evening". 

The Environment Agency says continued heavy rain could lead to further flooding across England on Thursday afternoon and evening, affecting homes and businesses and causing delays and cancellations on rail, roads and the Tube.

Heavy rain has flooded Manor Park in east London, meaning train services between Liverpool Street, Shenfield, Southend Victoria, Southminster, Braintree, Colchester, Manningtree, Ipswich and Norwich are being disrupted. Short notice alterations, delays and cancellations can be expected, says Greater Anglia.   

An amber warning for rain has come in to force in the London area, and will remain until 23:00 BST. 

The Met office says: "There is a risk of thunderstorms affecting the London area this afternoon and evening. Please be aware of possible disruption to travel and localised flooding as well as frequent lightning."  

Read more here, external

A bit more on the fire crew call-out at Wimbledon College of Art (earlier we were calling it by it's old name, the School of Art - apologies). 

London Fire Brigade say two crews from New Malden and Tooting spent two hours at the campus on Merton Hall Road pumping 3ft of water out of the basement.

The latest tweet from the college says the summer show is closed for the time being:

London Fire Brigade has appealed for people to only dial 999 "where there is a risk to life or property" after receiving twice as many weather-related emergency calls between 1.30am and 6.30am as the brigade usually handles in 24 hours.

It has dealt with flooded homes, commercial properties and roads, as well as vehicles trapped by floodwater and properties struck by lightning.