More heavy rainfall looks set to place even more strain on London’s roads and rail services already severely affected by flooding.

A combination of lightning and heavy flooding has caused devastation across south London’s rail services today with Southern, South West Trains and Southeastern all warning of heavy delays.

On South West there has been lightning damage to the signalling system at London Waterloo with fewer trains on all services from the station.

There are currently cancellations to Waterloo services to and from Hampton Court, Chessington, Woking stopping service, Guildford stopping service and Portsmouth via Eastleigh while trains to and from Shepperton will now terminate and start at Teddington and trains to Salisbury and Exeter will now terminate and start at Basingstoke.

Further disruptions and cancellations are also being experienced across both lines at Cobham.

Southeastern trains have also been affected by the overnight heavy rain with delays and alterations expected across all lines.

There is a reduced service between Dartford and Gravesend and between London and Orpington via Grove Park, while the service from Victoria to Orpington is being diverted to and from Blackfriars.

There are also cancellations between London Charing Cross and Gillingham while trains on the Hayes line may start and terminate at Elmers End, Clock House or New Beckenham.

Southern is warning of “severe reductions” on all its services this afternoon with disruptions expected throughout the rest of the day.

Wandsworth Common was subject to severe flooding this morning causing Southern to close the line. Services are now running on two lines but Southern is not expecting anymore to open this evening while Wandsworth Common and Battersea Park stations will now be closed for the rest of the day.

The Met Office has put out an amber warning, predicting that with heavy rain set to fall again there may be “possible disruption to travel and localised flooding as well as frequent lightning”.

Doug Wilson, Environment Agency flood risk manager, added: “Torrential downpours across the south-east including London could lead to further surface water flooding and significant disruption to travel on Thursday."

South London's roads are also affected with long tailbacks being reported on major routes.

Mr Wilson added: "If travelling, we urge people not to drive through flood water - it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car."