Hospitals in London were forced to tell patients to stay away after a month's worth of rain fell in three hours, flooding A&E departments.?

       Whipps Cross and Newham Hospitals in east London both urged patients to find alternative treatment centres after they were affected by the downpours.

       Whipps Cross Hospital said it was "experiencing operational issues" and asked patients to use an alternative A&E "if possible".

       Newham Hospital had a similar appeal, writing on its Twitter account: "Our Emergency Department has flooded in some areas. We're still here if you need us but to help us while we fix things please attend a neighbouring hospital if possible. Thank you."

       Homes, businesses, roads and Tube stations were also pummelled by the thunderstorms on Sunday night.

       Motorists along the A406 were left stranded with emergency services telling some drivers no help would be available until late in the evening as thunderstorms battered the South East.?

       Footage posted on social media on Sunday night showed crews attempting to rescue stranded drivers who risked becoming submerged under rising water levels. A part of the M11 was shut for a time on Sunday after it became flooded.?

       In London, flash floods sparked chaos as a month??s worth of rainfall deluged parts of the capital in the space of just a few hours as the Met Office issued an amber warning.?

       Torrents of water gushed into Pudding Mill Lane tube station at Stratford, creating whirlpools at ticket barriers.?

       Kennington Underground Station in the south of the capital and Hackney Wick station suffered a similar fate.?

       The disruption may well mean delays to services during the Monday morning commute, with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan tweeting: "Local emergency services, @LondonFire, and @MetPoliceUK are responding to significant flooding across London.

       "If you're travelling, check your route as multiple @TfL bus, tube and rail services are affected.

       "Avoid walking or driving through flood water. In an emergency, call 999."

       London??s Fire Brigade service said it had received more than 300 calls by 4.30pm while police were forced to remind the public their cars ??aren??t submarines??.??

       In Hackney Wick, north-east London, shoppers could be seen wading in murky water up to their knees.?

       Forecasters said an average July would see an estimated 47ml worth of rainfall in the entire month.?

       But residents in Redbridge, East London, saw 51ml of rainfall in just three hours, according to figures from the Met Office.???????

       Fourteen flood alerts were implemented for most of the capital and some neighbouring counties.

       Three doubledecker buses became stuck under a railway bridge near Queenstown Road station in south-west London.?

       It's the second time in a month that the capital's streets have been underwater, with the fire service receiving more than 1,000 calls about flooding on July 13.

       Eddie Elliott, a 28-year-old writer who was caught in the floods outside the station, said:?"Having been born and raised in London, I have never seen anything quite like it.?

       "It stands out as the worst I've experienced personally, totally shut down the whole road with buses stood broken down in the water."?

       IT consultant Jamie Curtis said he had to drive through water that was "12 to 18 inches deep" while driving through Clapham Common on his way home to Kingston, Hampshire.

       "I've not seen that level of flooding in London before," he added.?

       Other parts of southern England also suffered, with the town of Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire experiencing 50ml of rainfall in two hours.???

       Workers at the Stratford Centre scrambled to sweep away water after downpours hit, rendering flooded underpasses in places such as Walthamstow, Kingston and Worcester Park impassable.??

       Officers from the Metropolitan Police pleaded with drivers not to attempt to drive through deep water as they tweeted a photo of half-submerged cars on a busy high street.????

       The Environment Agency issued similar warnings, advising against people travelling in the dangerous conditions.

       Kingston Police, who oversee a borough in the amber zone for storms, reminded motorists they are ??not driving a submarine??.?

       Many roads within London were forced to remain shut due to the severe weather, including the Blackwall Tunnel, sections of the North Circular and the A12.?

       A spokesman for the Met Office said: ??When you get that much rain falling in a short period of time then it??s crying out for flash flooding.?

       ??There will potentially be some heavy showers this afternoon (Monday) but nothing like what we saw yesterday, I don??t think.??

       ??The week ahead, generally speaking for the UK, is increasingly unsettled with some further disruption from heavy showers and thunderstorms.???

       The storms are being caused by a ??convergence?? of air currents, due to warmth in the earth??s surface from the recent heatwave rising into cooler air in the atmosphere.

       The torrential downpours come after a heatwave earlier this week brought days of record-breaking temperatures.

       A yellow warning for storms which could cause travel and power disruption also covered a wider area of the South from Norwich to Plymouth, lasting until midnight.

       Temperatures are set to rise in most places again on Monday as the storms clear, with the mercury predicted to reach 26C in London, 25C in Edinburgh, 24C in Cardiff, and 22C in Belfast.

       The Met Office has predicted early cloud in some northern and eastern parts which will move up to Scotland, and sunny spells and scattered showers in most places throughout the day.