8th July - Today's News

More flash flooding in the UK

There was even one decent downpour in Evesham - no thunder of lightning as usual though. The SE was worst hit yesterday:

Storms drench royal garden party and flood stations

Flash floods disrupted the evening rush hour and had guests at the Queen's garden party running for cover yesterday as thunderstorms struck across the UK.

The Met Office said London and the south-east were the worst affected, with Kent recording almost two inches of rainfall. Central and eastern England were also badly affected

Wettest day since records began as Hastings is drenched

Today is officially the wettest day ever in Hastings - with three months rain falling in just over three hours.

According to local meteorologist David Powell parts of St Leonards have been drenched by 91 millimetres of rain already today.

Roads flooded in heavy downpours

Several roads in an East Sussex town were left under water after heavy rain fell in the early hours.

Emergency services said they responded to a number of calls in the Hollington area of Hastings and St Leonards.

Hollington Old Lane and Stonehouse Drive were the most severely affected, with cars stuck in up to 2ft (60cm) of water and basements flooded.

Several families had to be rescued from their homes, as some saw their gardens under up to 10ft (3m) of water.

Commons leaks after heavy storms

The latest Commons leaks inquiry will not have to look far for a culprit - after Westminster was hit by storms.

Wastepaper bins were pressed into action to catch rainwater after the biggest downpour many MPs could recall.

But fear not, because Israeli researchers have discovered cell phone towers that predict floods. And it's not a joke either.

Professor Pinhas Alpert, a geophysicist and head of Tel Aviv University's Porter School for Environmental Education explains: "By monitoring the specific and fluctuating atmospheric moisture around cell phone towers throughout America, we can effectively and reliably provide a more accurate 'critical moisture distribution' level". He corroborates: "This helps for fine-tuning model predictions of big floods," said.